


Excitations of Long-Term Memory

by Hawthorn Fire (Hawthorn_Fire)



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Dreams, F/F, Futanari, G!P, G!P Kara Danvers, Girl Penis Kara Danvers, Intersex Character, Lena Luthor Knows Kara Danvers Is Supergirl, Multi, Prophetic Dreams, Sensory Overload, Sex, Strange Viruses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-12
Updated: 2017-11-04
Packaged: 2018-12-26 18:28:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 70,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12064602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hawthorn_Fire/pseuds/Hawthorn%20Fire
Summary: Lena Luthor wakes up from a particularly strange dream, and wonders where on earth those ideas came from...





	1. Activation Synthesis Theory

Lena was in the liminal state of REM sleep, halfway between sleep and waking. She almost knew she was dreaming, but the strangest possible imagery that her mind could make up was still plausible and made total sense. She was having sex, or so she thought, and the sensations she felt seemed entirely real. She could feel her partner straining hard, lying heavily on her as they thrust hard into her, filling her full. Sweaty, rich scent filled her nostrils, familiar, but strange; no lover she had before smelled like this… Lena’s arms were around thick-muscled shoulders that were flexed and tense, but Lena realized the straining wasn’t due to the thrusting between her legs. Rather it was because her partner was holding back instead; trying not use too much force. 

“Harder.” Lena heard herself urge the person, wrapping her legs higher around the torso moving over her, and the change in angle let the thick phallus penetrating her push against her cervix, dragging back across her g-spot as it pulled back for another thrust. There was a groan in her ear, and the hot breath moving on her neck came in shorter huffs, matching her own. The hands at her waist gripped her harder and the speed and force of the thrusts into her increased. Lena felt the crest of her arousal rise up and finally break into a blinding orgasm, just as the phallus thrust hard and stopped deep inside her, the base pulsing over and over against her clitoris. 

The pulsing, and the warm, wet, sticky feeling that flooded her… she realized it was ejaculate, and her partner was coming inside her. And she wasn’t on birth control. Lena had stopped taking it after Jack died, when the bloating side effects and depression it helped cause made that particular form of the pill not worth staying on. She intended to try some alternate form eventually, but she wasn’t dating and it hadn’t seemed urgent… Lena frantically tried to pull away, tried to move out from under the heavy body on top of her, but she only succeeded in startling her partner into raising up, so that she was staring into the face of… Kara Danvers. 

Or actually, Kara as Supergirl, still in her suit; the cape flowing down her back and the synthetic fabric’s texture rough against Lena’s fingertips. Noting her distress, Kara pulled out of her, and the warm flood of ejaculate spilled out onto the bed between Lena’s legs, as she… woke up, suddenly. 

Lena was alone, in her own bedroom, with no weight pressing her down at all. The only flood between her legs was her own arousal and the tingling aftermath of her orgasm. Lena’s immediate thought was relief. It had all been a dream. She wasn’t going to be accidentally pregnant, wasn’t having unprotected sex, and she hadn’t forgotten and allowed someone to ejaculate inside her. And especially not her best friend, who inexplicably seemed to have a penis in her dream. Her best friend who seemed to be avoiding her recently and hadn’t even spent time with her; and had definitely not taken off Lena’s clothes and penetrated her with a nonexistent boner.

Good Lord, where had that dream come from? Lena rolled through recent events for the catalyst of all that strange imagery. She was having lunch with Kara tomorrow for the first time in weeks. They hadn’t talked face to face, but Kara had texted. Kara had seemed depressed since Mike had gone, and Lena had been spending long days at work to do to get L-Corp back to normal after the Daxamite invasion. Kara said she didn’t blame her for what happened, but Lena couldn’t see how that could be possible. 

There was also the problem of Kara vs. Supergirl, and Lena felt guilty about that, too. Lena had always known the two women were one and the same. Before she ever met her, Lena had learned it from Lex’s files after he went to prison. She hadn’t told Kara at first because she wasn’t sure that she could trust her, and once she knew she could trust her, it was too late to say anything. Now Kara wouldn’t trust Lena for knowing her secret for all these months without bringing it up.

Lena was anxious about the lunch; that must be why she was dreaming about Kara… but that didn’t explain the sexual part. Kara was sweet and lightness, and Lena wasn’t attracted to either of those things.

Lena hadn’t had sex since Jack, and hadn’t even been interested in the idea. Maybe her guilt about working with Rhea, and her lack of any sex life, and her anxiety about Kara got all jumbled together. But why on earth had she given Kara a penis in her dream? A really fat, sexually-arousing penis? The dream version of Kara was certainly not sweet or lightness, but raw, questing power. Lena was still turned on by the dream, and it wouldn’t take much to… she slid her hand into her underwear and rubbed her clit until she came again, quickly, imagining that thick phallus still sliding in and out of her… and in the aftermath of another orgasm she was embarrassed that she had even thought of it. What would Kara think of her if she knew?


	2. Hyperosmia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara and Lena have lunch, and Supergirl carries Lena home late one night. Lena catches Kara by surprise, and Kara has some things to think about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hear you about the tags for this story, but more will get added as the story goes along. I just hate to tell the end before the beginning.

As soon as she saw Kara at lunch, Lena’s anxiety fell away. Kara’s warm smile calmed her as Kara walked up to the restaurant table Lena had picked out for them. She got up and took Kara’s hands to greet her, but that wasn’t enough for Kara. She pulled Lena into her embrace, and as the strong arms enfolded her, Lena flashed back. The strong shoulders, the hot breath on her neck, and that rich scent filling her nostrils were all familiar; she had indeed been dreaming about Kara. She should have recognized it right away. Lena shook her head, trying to shake her flashback to the dream.

“I’ve missed you…” the words came tumbling out of Lena’s mouth before she could stop them. Kara pulled back away from her, but this time there was no surprise or worry; just a smile that reached Kara’s eyes. “I missed you, too. I’ve been avoiding people too long, and it hasn’t been good for me.” They sat opposite each other and Lena listened to the noise of the street outside.

“Avoiding people? Or just me? Not that I blame you if it is just me…” Lena asked.

“No, no.” Kara drew out the words long, reaching across the table toward her. “Everyone. Including my sister, who came over to kidnap me and take me out to the park the other day because she was so mad I’ve been holed up at home.”

“Didn’t you go to work, though?”

“Yes. And I’ve spent a lot of time with Ms. Grant, which has been really nice. I’ve had a lot of assignments related to the invasion…” Kara stopped to order her favorite coffee drink when the server came by.

“I’ve read them; your articles. They were great. I really appreciate that you glossed over my role. I think L-Corp wouldn’t have survived if people knew.” Lena said.

“Well, that’s also in the interests of national security. The DEO appreciates you turning over your tech to them to analyze, Lena.”

“Jonn told me. He’s been checking in with me with questions.”

“Well, I’m sorry Rhea targeted you to take advantage of to get at me, and at Supergirl. Your work really was brilliant.”

“Thank you. I’m sorry I was so gullible. It was just so exciting, to have a mentor. Someone who understood science, and appreciated my work…” Lena tried to explain again, but Kara stopped her.

“I can understand that. I’m really lucky to have a sister that has looked after me. And my mom… she can be a little distant but I know she loves me. I wish you had been lucky, too. Jonn and Winn are big fans of yours, actually.”

“Well, since neither of them is anything like my mother, they’re probably much safer mentors than Rhea.”

Kara laughed, and Lena smiled. She had Kara back, and things were better, and her dream completely slipped from her mind.

 

#

 

The first year after Kara Zor-El arrived on earth was tumultuous for her and for her adoptive Danvers family. She spent the first months at the Danvers home fighting the sensory overload that Earth’s sun presented to her. At first, everything about Earth was overwhelming. Learning to control her new-found strength, to see without seeing through everything, to listen without having sound drown her; were exhausting tasks. 

Of all Kara’s heightened senses, smell was hardest to repress even as an adult, and it was often that one that caught her by surprise. She had a good handle on how to shut down things that smelled awful; as soon as she caught the first tendrils of scent drifting towards her, she could block garbage and rotting food and… waste products. But happy smells like food had a way of cascading over her. Pizza. Potstickers. What could be more exciting?

The other scent that seem to arrive before she realized… it was hard to ignore when someone around her - man or woman - was turned on, but it was more noticeable with women. She was cursed to walk around with an awareness, often, of what people around her were feeling sexually. And Kara had the advantage of being able to hear elevated heartbeats as well. So when she realized at lunch that Lena was at least a little bit turned on, she didn’t know quite what to make of it. As far as she knew, Lena was still sad about Jack. And Lena herself said she’d done nothing but work ever since the invasion… 

 

#

 

It was a few nights later that Lena saw Kara again, this time as Supergirl. Lena stayed late at L-Corp going over reports on a project that just wasn’t duplicating results properly. The scientists she had working for her were more than competent to solve the issue, but she stayed up reading hundreds of pages of documentation anyway. She felt like the answer was close, but she just couldn’t get to it. 

When she heard the tap on the glass of the balcony door, she jumped, even though she knew immediately who it must be. She rose and opened the door.

“Sorry; didn’t mean to startle you.” Supergirl said.

“No; I knew it must be you, but my head was stuck in a report, so I wasn’t expecting anyone.” Lena said.

“I saw the light on and thought I would check on you. It’s awfully late; is everything okay?” Supergirl gestured to the clock, and Lena realized it was after 3 a.m.

“Oh, everything is fine. I just got absorbed in reading and forgot to go home.”

“Did you eat dinner?” Supergirl had her hands on her hips, doing her best impression of authority, and Lena was charmed.

“I did. I ordered in. Also, you’re out as late as I am.” Lena said.

“Well, I had a car accident to sort out on the bridge. I was in for the evening before that happened.” Lena could picture Kara curled up on her couch watching TV. 

“Well, that’s a better excuse than ‘I was reading and lost track of time.’ I guess.” Lena observed. 

“Well, you should head home. Do you have a car waiting, or would you like a lift?” Kara asked.

“No, the driver went home hours ago. I can take an Lyft car, though.”

“I’d much rather take you. I’m not thrilled about you getting rides from strangers. You’re too well known.” Kara had a point, and Lena was tired and easily persuaded.

“Fine. Let me get my things.”

A few minutes later they lifted off, Lena cradled in both of Kara’s arms. Kara had insisted that this was easier than Lena trying to hang on to her neck with her purse and laptop bag, but it still made Lena feel like a damsel in distress. And it emphasized how strong Kara was, and that same scent was all around Lena. How she didn’t realize right away in that dream who she was having sex with, Lena didn’t know.

The night was quiet and the wind was soft, so she could hear Kara humming as they flew along. “I had the strangest dream about you.” Lena said, before she realized what she was saying.

“Really? What was I doing?” Supergirl asked.

“It’s not important, really. It was just odd. Sort of unexpected.” Lena tried to backtrack.

“Okay, that is really unfair. You can’t tell me I was in a dream and not tell me what it was about.”

“I’m tired and I shouldn’t have blurted it out, and now I’m embarrassed because it was an embarrassing dream.” Lena said.

“Well, whatever you dreamed, I can’t hold it against you. It’s not like dreams are voluntary. Just tell me, or I’ll think about it forever.” Kara said.

“If you promise not to judge me.”

“I already said I wouldn’t.”

“Okay. We were having sex. You were having sex with me.” Lena told her.

Kara was silent, and Lena suddenly felt too hot. She should never have said anything at all.

“I didn’t know you liked women.” Kara said, finally.

“Well, I usually don’t. That’s why it was a strange dream. I… really, forget I said anything about it. I was just tired and I blurted it out.” Lena said.

“No, it’s okay. Dreams are weird. I once dreamed I was stuck in a public restroom that went on for miles and miles and I could never find the door.”

“I think I’ve had that dream, too.” Lena laughed, and Kara laughed too. Lena laid her head on Kara’s shoulder and sighed and Kara gripped her just a little tighter.

They were almost to Lena’s penthouse apartment when Kara’s stomach started growling, and Lena laughed.

“Hungry? I’ll make you a sandwich when we get there.” Lena promised, and Kara’s stomach growled again in answer. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Supergirl ate three ham sandwiches, an apple, and a pint of ice cream, standing in Lena’s kitchen. Lena wished she could tell Kara she knew who she really was, if only so Kara could order what she actually wanted to eat when they went out to lunch, and not just the portions humans usually ate. She could tell Kara was tired, too, because she was so focused on the food she wasn’t aware that Lena was watching her affectionately from across the counter. Kara’s raw appreciation for food was primal, and dangerously attractive, and Lena really needed to send Supergirl off before she forgot herself and did something embarrassing. She cursed her sub-conscious mind for putting that notion of sex with her best friend in her brain, because she couldn’t seem to shake it now. Kara finished the ice cream and put her spoon in the sink and the container in the trash, unconsciously locating it under the sink even though she had only been in Lena’s apartment as Kara, never as Supergirl.

“Feel better?” Lena asked.

“Much.” Kara said. “I should get home.”

“Okay. Well, fly safe.” Lena said, walking with her to the balcony door.

“Thank you for the food.” Supergirl said.

“Thank you for the ride home.” Lena said, her hand on the door as Supergirl stood in it. Lena could tell Kara had the impulse to hug her, but Lena and Supergirl never hugged. Lena and Kara hugged, but Lena and Supergirl had only touched when Supergirl held her to fly. Lena felt her own heart race, and knew Kara could hear it. Kara seemed to hesitate in the doorway for a moment, before she nodded, and took off with a running leap into the sky.

 

#

 

Kara flew away from Lena's with thoughts whirling through her head. She was definitely not sleepy, despite the late hour, because she really had not expected her whole evening with Lena to go quite that way. From the moment she greeted Lena after dropping onto the balcony she could tell Lena was aroused. It became clear part way through the flight that it was about Kara. Even before the dream confession. Kara was thrown for a loop. Lena was attracted to boys, and had never reacted that way to her before. The other day at lunch… But it was still a new thing.

Although she loved Lena dearly, she really didn't want this to happen. It would be just like Devin, and Quinn before that. She and Lena weren't compatible, and that was all there was to it. Mon-El had been her only chance at true physical compatibility, and he was gone.


	3. Unconscious Perception

Lena had another vivid dream that evening after she said goodnight to Supergirl, but this one wasn’t pleasant. Lillian was in it, holding a clipboard and speaking to several men in lab coats. They were in a warehouse, or a laboratory? Lena couldn’t be sure. The building was dark and hot, and Lena was sweating, and the place smelled like sulfur and something else acrid that she should recognize… She strained to hear her step-mother speaking, but the sound was garbled, as if it had been slowed down or scrambled. She tried to get closer, but felt like she was moving through viscous gel. Lillian and the men moved away from her, and she hurried to keep up while worrying about being seen. But they didn’t look back and no one else appeared. It wasn’t a warehouse, but a plant of some kind, except Lena couldn’t tell by the equipment they passed what they were manufacturing. She was frustrated with herself; she should know how to read the labels on these tanks, but they were blurry when she moved closer and she felt herself getting dizzy. As she followed what she thought was a lab coat in the distance, Lena’s heel caught on a drain in the floor and she struggled to get free. Her mother and the men trailing after her disappeared. She turned down one small corridor between equipment and then another, but she was becoming hopelessly lost.

Suddenly Lena was seized from behind in a grip so tight she couldn’t move, and the person yanked her off of her feet so she hung in their hands. “You shouldn’t be here!” A voice hissed at her with an anger so fierce she felt her heart skip. The hands on her biceps were like a vice and she felt the nerves in her arms pinch so that she lost feeling in her finger tips. “You have to leave right now. Get out!” She wanted to yell back that she couldn’t leave if they didn’t let her go, but she had no voice. She couldn’t get her feet back under her on the ground to push against the person before they started cursing. “It’s too late. There’s no time left. You can’t be here, and I can’t stop it now without leaving you…” The person let go of her for just a second to whirl her around and it was Supergirl. Supergirl who pulled her close, and Lena’s face was pressed up against her breasts. “Don’t move! I can’t protect you if you move.” Her voice was still so angry that Lena trembled. And then Lena heard her whisper “5, 4, 3, 2…” There was a blast in the distance and another, and then one just over their heads that deafened Lena. There was bright light so blinding it made the room white all around them, and she closed her eyes and pressed closer to the body shielding her, trying to feel her, smell her, anything. But all she could feel was her legs burning and all she could smell was that awful acrid smoke that overwhelmed them.

Lena awoke panting, terrified. Like the other night she was relieved to wake up and find it was just a dream, thankful this time to be in one piece in a quiet, cool room. She got up to get a drink and in the light of the kitchen she examined her arms and legs, which still tingled with the feeling of a fire burning through her skin and down to the bone. But her skin was untouched. She was fine.

She went back to bed thinking of an angry Supergirl and how she had been thrown around like a doll. She’d never seen Kara so brutal except… to bad guys. Would Kara ever get that angry at her? Think she was a villain? She’d had been trying to protect Lena from harm. She cared about Lena. But even when she had been pressed up against Supergirl, it hadn’t been comforting. It had been terrifying. Some part of Lena was terrified of Supergirl and what she could do. If Supergirl were determined to hold onto her, Lena didn’t have the power to get free.

 

#

 

After a couple hours of sleep and breakfast, it finally hit Kara that she had gone to lunch the other day as Kara, and took Lena home last night as Supergirl. If Lena had been attracted to her both times… maybe she knew that Kara and Supergirl were the same? But the evidence for that was thin, really. She couldn’t exactly confront Lena based on that. Maybe it would be better to just tell her, but she dreaded Alex’s anger and the mountain of paperwork J’onn would inflict on them.

She needed to see Lena again and see how she reacted. But she also didn’t know what to do with a turned on Lena, so she decided to pay attention to her busy schedule for now. She could sort out the stuff with Lena in a few days.

 

#

 

It took a few days after the nightmare for Lena to decide that the angry and forceful version of her friend that her dream had shown her was just a projection of Lena’s own fears. She knew Kara enough to know that the sweet, kind girl was real, and the Angry Supergirl had never been that way toward her. Dreams were not to be trusted. They were just the mind’s way of processing the day’s events. It shouldn’t surprise Lena that Lillian and her scheming would fuel Lena’s nightmares and affect her waking thoughts. She decided to be religious about going to bed early and getting enough sleep, and it seemed to be helping.

Lena had to beg Kara via text to come over and watch a movie with her before she agreed. She worried that Kara’s hesitance was about her sex dream confession, and Kara was really quiet as they gathered food together to watch the movie. But it turned out not to be about Lena at all. 

“Are you okay, Kara?” Lena asked.

“Alex brought over a box of Mike’s - Mon-El’s - things from his locker at the DEO.” Kara said, following a huge sigh.

Lena was quietly furious with Alex for doing that until Kara noticed her reaction by the expression on her face. “No, I told her to. I wanted more of his things around than just what he had at my apartment. But then of course when I went through the box, I couldn’t get out of the apartment fast enough. It was too much.”

“I understand that. Sometimes I wish I had something more of Jack’s than the blazer he left here.” Lena said.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think about Jack. That was insensitive of me.” Kara said. “I may not be able to see him, but at least I know Mon-El is out there somewhere.”

“I think on some level, in some way, Jack is still around too. I’m not a religious person, but I hope something of his spirit exists somewhere.” Lena said. “And I’m glad I got to see him again before… If he hadn’t come to town, I would have heard or read about him dying somehow, probably. I wouldn’t have seen him.” Kara squeezed her hand gently.

“I think we need ice cream and a ridiculous movie.” Kara announced firmly. 

Fortunately Lena had planned well, and the ice cream and silly movie selections were plentiful. They settled in to the couch, curled up in blankets and turned on “13 Going on 30.” Lena was thankful that her arousal at being close to Kara had dissipated. The explosion dream had been so disturbing, and the somber conversation probably changed things too. 

There was another large issue that worried Lena as well. Supergirl knew about Rhea trying to force Lena to marry Mon-El, but Kara would supposedly not know all of that. Lena had never brought it up with Kara, and she wondered if Kara were waiting for her to tell her about it. She should, but she dreaded it. Because Lena also knew something even Supergirl didn’t know - Rhea’s plan to combine Lena’s DNA with Mon-El’s. She still wondered if Rhea had actually done it, and if, floating around somewhere on a Daxamite ship, there was an incubator containing a tiny version of herself and Mon-El. But the thought of that made her feel sick, so she buried it and dug into her ice cream.

The movie was charming, and as the heroine emerged at the end with the perfect boyfriend-turned-husband in tow, Lena wondered if that would have been Kara and Mike. Kara certainly fit the role of the protagonist Jenna very well. But something about the way they had been together told her no; that Mike was too selfish and Kara too frustrated with his self-serving behavior for him to ever turn into the character Matt. Kara needed someone who, like her, wanted to make the world a better place and to solve problems. Lena hadn’t liked Mike the few times she met him, and Mike’s willingness to give in to his mother’s wishes and to take the path of least resistance on the Daxamite ship while Lena was scheming to get out instead told her a lot about him. He wasn’t right for Kara at all. But she insisted he was the only one for her - she even said it that way to Lena. 

“Tell me what it was about Mike that you loved, Kara.” Lena asked.

“Well… he was funny. And sweet. And had a different way of looking at things.” Kara said. It came out hesitant, as though Kara was trying to justify it to herself.

“Was that what ‘made you heart sing’ though?”

“I… yes. We didn’t always get along perfectly. But he changed. For me, to try to be better for me. And we fit together well.”

“You’ve said that before but I don’t understand what you mean. It almost sounds sexual.”

“It was. We just were really physically compatible. Everything just worked. I know that sounds not all that important and sort of crass, but it was important to me.”

“So he was good in bed.” Lena said, smirking.

“Yes, eventually. I mean… it was more that we fit together well than either of us having a particular skill at it.” Kara seemed a little embarrassed, but she didn’t hesitate to answer, so Lena only felt a little guilty poking into private areas.

“Well, I won’t push it any more than that. I’ve probably already crossed the line asking.” Lena said.

“No, it’s okay. I’ve sometimes wished I could talk about sex stuff more with people. Alex always gets really icked-out talking about it. And my mother will deliver you the best lectures on the importance of safe sex and the serious responsibility sexual intercourse is.”

“Well, Moms are like that. Or so I’ve heard. When I was eleven, mine brought in a sex therapist to tell me about the birds and the bees and then left to play tennis.” Lena said.

“My mom could give all the other moms lessons in how to lecture about sex.” Kara snarked, unfolding herself from the pile of blankets to take her empty ice cream container to the trash under the sink. As she placed it there, she paused for a moment, and Lena saw a thought cross her face. Lena decided to interrupt.

“Does she want you and Alex to be virgins forever?”

“I think she does with me. She had written Alex off as a lost cause. But now she’s thrilled because Maggie can’t knock Alex up so she never has to worry.”

“How does she expect to get grand babies?”

“I’m not sure she wants them. Or she’s got some IV fertilization scheme planned for Alex. I’m sure I’ll find out at Thanksgiving when she raises the topic of all the new exciting advances in the reproductive science.”

Bitterly, Lena thought there might be a thing or two that Rhea could have taught Mrs. Danvers. Maybe it would be okay to bring up the forced marriage with Kara.

“There’s something we haven’t talked about, although I think you may know. Rhea tried to force Mike - Mon-El - and I to marry when we were trapped on the ship.” Lena said, getting up to lean on the counter as Kara rummaged through the refrigerator.

“I know. Mon-El told me. He said you were trying to refuse but she threatened to kill you.” Kara said, standing up with a bunch of carrots in her hand. “He also said she stole your DNA.”

“I’m sorry. I really didn’t want to marry your boyfriend.” Lena said.

“I know. The woman was nuts. I’m glad Supergirl got there to save you.” Kara said.

“Yes, her and my mother. Quite the team-up.” Lena said.

“Sometimes the enemy of my enemy is… a nutty person you could get along with for a couple of hours until they stab you in the back.” Kara said, laughing.

“What are you planning on doing with these carrots, Danvers?”

“Carrot & Ice Cream smoothie?” Kara suggested.

“Literally everything has to be combined with sugar? I’m going to gain sixty pounds hanging out with you, Kara.”

“It’ll be great. Just let me get it set up.” Lena watched while Kara buzzed around the kitchen preparing the strangest smoothie she could imagine, and at some point, she ended up contemplating Kara’s breasts. The idea of her face pressed up against them when not in the middle of a massive chemical explosion was… not terrifying at all. Actually, fairly pleasant. Lena probably stared way too long, because she realized that Kara was looking at her with one eyebrow raised while pulsing the blender. 

Lena shook her head and smiled and said, “Sorry; my brain was elsewhere.” Kara rewarded her with a huge grin, and Lena felt a small glow rise in her chest. Kara was her best friend and she needed to stop thinking about her body parts and appreciate how lucky she was to know someone who loved to be with her just for the sake of enjoying her company. She had always wished for a best friend, and now she had one, and she couldn’t be more perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the chapter following this one, we'll take a jump to the left and a step the right and pop back for a closer look at Kara's first year on earth, at least as it happened according to me.


	4. Involuntary Recurrent Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More of Kara's backstory, which may be a little different than you heard before...

When she came to live with the Danvers, so much about Kara was different that it wasn’t surprising that Eliza and Jeremiah overlooked something fairly important about her physiology - something that Kara eventually had to figure out for herself quite a while later.

That first year, Kara broke, burned, and froze things accidentally and then retreated inside herself in shame and embarrassment, hiding in a corner of her room, under a cupboard or in the cool darkness of the basement. The girl Alex would hold her hand, Eliza would take her in her arms, Jeremiah would sit next to her and theorize with her about what they could try to make it easier for her.

Eliza and Jeremiah frantically ran through every experimental resource they could think of to help her cope. Eliza would examine Kara and listen to Kara’s descriptions of what was happening to her, and Jeremiah spent every night in the basement lab building new equipment. Through trial and error, Eliza and Jeremiah created hearing aids that dampened sound, lead-lined glasses to help her see, weighted blankets to help sooth her and keep her in bed instead of floating above it at night. 

Kal-El stopped by the Danvers home twice to check on her, give advice, to rub her back and to tell her that she was doing great. But he had grown up under Earth’s sun, and never had to make the physical adjustments that Kara needed to live a new world that worked entirely differently from the one she had known. He was able to show her how to fly, to use her X-ray vision, how to lift off, and move and float in the air. 

But “turning her powers off” when she didn’t need them, or at least getting used to the newer sensory input was the challenge the Danvers family eventually helped her solve. After almost 13 months, Kara was adjusting, finally. The tools the Danvers had given her had let her figure out how to separate sound. More time under the Earth’s sun let her eyes filter the light and lead-lined glasses helped her figure out how to see things without seeing through them. And experiment after experiment taught her how to hold things with the right amount of pressure without crushing them.

She was 14 now, the Danvers thought. Jeremiah and Alex worked with her lifepod’s recording system to do the math to calculate her real age. But the difference in how Krypton marked time was an estimate, and the years she spent in stasis in the Phantom Zone were recorded by her ship, but not easily translated into Earth time. She was still seemed a pre-adolescent, but that would change soon.

Kara could finally cope enough with Earth’s effects to go to school, and started eighth grade a year behind Alex. Kara had tested well in almost every subject when the school enrolled her. But it wasn’t an easy transition, and she leaned heavily on Alex to guide her in social situations. Kara was awkward where Alex was confident and Kara tripped over her own feet where Alex was a master of every sport she tried. 

Megan and Julia, Alex’s long time friends, were tolerant of Kara hanging around them, so Kara had someone to sit with and greet in the halls. Julia was Kara’s favorite. Kara remembered everything Julia had ever said to her, and who her family members were, and the name of Julia’s dog, and she never hesitated to ask Julia about those things when she saw her. Julia was African American, and very pretty, and always had tidy clothes, unlike Kara who had trouble with spilling things. Julia thought it was a little charming how much Kara had memorized about her, and how excited she was to ask questions. She really was trying hard, Julia thought. Alex had explained to them that Kara had trouble with her vision and hearing and reacted to things oddly sometimes, and that she had come from a home that was very different from the one she and her friends knew. She left it general, but Megan and Julia both decided Kara had some developmental challenge, and was from some other country.

Julia was in eight grade with Kara, and took her same AP math class. She sat next to Kara every day by choice, willing to help Alex’s sister Kara feel a little more normal. Mrs. Jennings was delighted at how quick Kara was to answer a question to the class, but the rest of her classmates were not as excited at how eager Kara was to please. 

“Alex, your sister is… a little too much of a teacher’s pet.” Julia said when she an Alex were alone in electronics club.

“Is she?” Alex sort of knew that, but she had been hoping…

“The guys in AP math hate her. She keeps showing them up. They’re calling her ‘autism girl’ behind her back.”

“Great. I don’t know what to do about that. I can’t tell her to not raise her hand.”

“No, I agree. Don’t discourage her. She’s already too sensitive. She’ll never answer a question again. But keep an eye on George Watkins. He’s egging the other guys on about her.”

“Thanks for telling me, Julia.”

And eventually Alex did have to intervene. She beat the crap out of Watkins one day after school for trying to trip Kara in the parking lot after the end of day bell rang. Kara was stunned by George’s shove and taunting nicknames and would probably never have fought back, but Alex couldn’t take a chance that Kara might use too much force defending herself, so she jumped George as soon as she saw what was going on. Julia watched with her arms around Kara’s shoulders, keeping her from running to her sister while Alex completed her humiliation of the boy in front of his friends. Kara was so shocked by what was happening and by Julia’s gentle hug that she couldn’t move until the fight was over. 

After leaving George Watkins moaning on the ground with a bloody nose and fat lip, Alex sped Julia, Kara and Megan away from the scene before any teachers showed up to punish those involved. They fled a couple blocks away to a donut shop where Julia bought Kara ice cream - Mango Pineapple, her favorite - and Alex calmed down from the adrenaline rush of her victory. Julia rubbed Kara’s back gently, after seeing that Kara sat in her chair ramrod straight with tension and clear anxious lines on her forehead. Between the ice cream and the friendship, she eventually relaxed, and they came up with a story they could tell about why Alex’s knuckles were a bloody mess.

 

#

 

That night in bed, Kara dreamed of her new friend Julia’s arms around her, and she felt a rush of warm feeling in her underwear, although she was only a little awake. There was an unfamiliar hard knot there, too, and a sticky, gooey feeling on her thighs. That woke her up completely. Had she wet the bed? She only did that once when she first came here, and Alex had looked at her so strangely that next morning that she felt ashamed of not being able to control any of her body. She thought maybe she had made a noise tonight, too, but when she looked through the wall at Alex’s bed in the room next door, her new sister didn’t seem to be awake. Maybe whatever noise she made, Alex didn’t hear. Kara got up as quietly as she could and tiptoed down the hall to the bathroom, where she could lock the door and see what was going on. The gooey stuff in her underwear wasn’t urine. It was white and clingy and she had to use a washcloth to get it off of her. It smelled different, too. The hard knot between her legs was at the top of what Eliza had called “lady parts” and Alex had called “vulva.” It was a knot of flesh that stuck out almost an inch now, and when she touched it, she felt a rush of the same warm feeling, and a bit of painfulness too. She didn’t know if she had hurt something and not remembered; something that would cause that area to swell? They had seen a video in health class about puberty and girls and boys and their physical parts, and the Danvers had gone over it with her when she brought home the class pamphlet. She didn’t remember all that it said, but this didn’t seem right.

Back in her own bedroom, Alex listened as hard as she could for what Kara was doing in the bathroom. She had been awake when Kara had started her dream. She was used to checking on Kara if she made noise at night, because Kara had nightmares a lot. She would pull the weighted blanket over her if she seemed to be having a bad dream or if she was floating up over the bed, which happened when Kara was keyed up. But this night, Kara didn’t seem to be floating, and she had been making little moaning noises that seemed different than the fearful sounds she usually expressed at night. This didn’t sound like a 'Krypton exploding' dream. And then Kara said a word that Alex recognized - “Julia.” She said it again, and again under her breath, between happy little moaning sounds, and then she made a short yelp and stopped. When Kara woke up and started looking around, Alex pretended to be asleep, knowing Kara could see into her room. She was too embarrassed that Kara was dreaming about her friend. But still, if Kara was upset… sometimes she would go cry somewhere if she was overwhelmed. Alex didn’t hear tears from the bathroom though. And Kara snuck back into her own room a few minutes later. Maybe she just needed to get a drink of water. 

In the morning, Kara dug the pamphlet about puberty out of her top drawer and snuck it into her backpack. She would re-read it at lunch if she could find a quiet place some where. She left her backpack on the hall table when she went down for breakfast, and Eliza discovered the pamphlet when she opened the backpack to add Kara’s lunch to it. Eliza had also seen the pamphlet hidden in Kara’s sock drawer, so she knew that Kara must have some questions if she was carrying it around now. And then Alex walked by and saw it in Eliza’s hand.

“I think Kara had a dream about Julia last night.” Alex whispered. “Like, a romantic dream or something.” She blushed and couldn’t meet her mom’s eyes. Maybe that explained Kara’s research.

“Well, don’t worry about it. I’ll talk to her. Don’t say anything to Kara.”

“God, I won’t.” Alex shuddered.

“Hey. Maybe she’s just happy to have a friend and it’s confusing for her. She tries so hard.”

“I know, mom.” Alex surprised her mom when she kissed her on the cheek before grabbing her own backpack to run out the front door to wait for the bus.

 

#

 

Kara came to Eliza herself that night, after dinner, as Eliza dried the dishes Jeremiah had washed. Kara’s dad and sister were downstairs in the basement lab again, tinkering with science and computer stuff.

“Mom.” Kara whispered, almost too softly to hear. She was already in her pajamas, even though it was only 7:30 and bed time was an hour and a half away. She had the pamphlet in her hand. She never called them “mom” or “dad” although she had been invited to over and over - she used their first names. Eliza thought she might melt with joy.

“What is it, sweetie?”

“I think there’s something different about me. Something that’s not… like what it shows here.”

Eliza realized suddenly that they had made a lot of assumptions about Kara. She had never done X-rays on Kara, or an ultrasound. She was a bio-engineer and had a M.D., so she could have, but reproduction wasn’t even on her mind when the terrified child arrived in their home. She had done a general physical exam of Kara and followed up as they had worked on her sensory issues. Because Kara’s exterior genitalia had appeared normal, she hadn’t even consider doing a vaginal exam because of the extreme sensory problems Kara was fighting. Kal-El had vaguely said that he had developed like human men did… but what did that mean, exactly?

“Okay, sweetheart. Let’s go somewhere private and you can tell me what’s worrying you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, a little bit of a cliffhanger, and I didn't give the full details! It's coming; I promise.


	5. Concordance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena prepares for a business trip to Metropolis, but both she and Kara tried to figure out how to see one another before she has to leave town. J'onn learns something surprising. And Lena has her most disturbing dream yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Note: Dream sequence with disturbing imagery and implied non-consensual physical actions.

Kara started walking each work day to CatCo two years ago, because it helped ground her and make her focus on her day. It took 35 minutes to walk there from home and she had to be in early (the news never sleeps!) so she had to get up on time. Even though getting dressed and out the door was easy, forcing herself to move at the slow pace of the rest of her fellow commuters took concentration. National City was very car-oriented, but public transportation had grown in the past decades and there was a bus/light rail system. Pedestrians and bicyclists had made inroads on the city structure and it was possible to move across town on foot or by bike. Kara was not the only young professional that walked to work; several people at CatCo took advantage of the perks the company offered for green-friendly commuters on their staff.

Kara set out while the sun was just peeking through the buildings, and found a normal human pace. Sometimes she wore headphones and listened to music or podcasts but most of the time she just spent time thinking. Today she was thinking about Lena. 

Soon after she met her, Kara had noticed that Lena’s eyes always seemed sad, even when she was in a good mood. Her smiles never quite made it to her eyes, and very early in their friendship Kara decided to do something about that. She discovered that she could ‘fix’ Lena’s sadness with silly stories, enthusiastic recounting of her day, and generally indulging in the absurd. She could make Lena laugh until the muscles of her eyes pulled her expression into one of delight. After she had mastered that, doing it again and again became a minor obsession of Kara’s. Humans were strange and unpredictable, and Kara had always felt like she never quite fit in. So when she connected and understood someone, she held on tight. The fact that she could connect with Lena over and over and get a similar response all the time was addictive.

After she learned more about the Luthor family, Kara began to understand why Lena’s eyes seemed permanently unhappy. She’d had years of sadness to engrain that expression onto her face, and it would take time to undo that. But Kara was determined to try. She had to admit to herself that she felt a sense of possession toward Lena that might be a little bit more than usual friendship. And now Kara had discovered a new way to change Lena’s expression. When she was interested in someone, Lena’s sadness disappeared, too. Her eyes narrowed and her brows lowered, and her lips pulled together into an almost kiss, unless she was biting her lip.

Talking about sex and Mon-El with Lena had been a little awkward, but Kara was relieved to have someone to confide in. It also confirmed what she suspected - Lena was attracted her. Talking about sex made Lena think about Kara. And it made Kara think about Lena, too. Lena was stunning, and in junior high Kara would have died to have a friend like her. But as an adult Kara understood why she felt that way. And she had been pretending since she met Lena that she just thought she was a good friend, but the reality was that Lena pushed many of her buttons. 

Lena was going to Metropolis for nearly two weeks though, so Kara had some time to get her head together. She could focus on work and Supergirl responsibilities. The temptation to visit Lena as Supergirl before Lena left town was strong, but Kara decided against it. She needed to bite the bullet and insist to Alex that she tell Lena the truth. They were becoming too close to continue to cover it up, and she was well into the territory of outright lies now. She could justify that to total strangers, but lying directly to Lena made her really unhappy. And maybe, just maybe, if she could tell Lena she was Supergirl, there would be other things she could tell her, too.

Kara got to work plenty early, but Snapper was already running around the office as though she was late. It was going to be a long day.

 

#

 

Setting off the L-Corp fire alarm. Chasing a cat up a tree and then calling for help. Hopping on a ferry across the harbor and then “accidentally” falling overboard. Lena contemplated a number of disasters she could create, without hurting herself or anyone else, that Supergirl would have to come and fix, so that she could talk to her, spend time with her, before she had to leave for Metropolis. Of course she couldn’t actually do any of them, but it didn’t stop her from daydreaming about it.

In the past if she needed to talk to Supergirl, she would ask Kara to “call her” and tell her she needed to talk, which was funny, because basically she was calling Kara and asking her to dress up in a funny uniform and come visit. But she had no legitimate excuse for calling on Supergirl now. Still, she wanted to talk to Kara in a cape. Of course she could just talk to Kara Danvers. But she wanted to see the muscles that showed through the suit. Khaki pants and buttons shirts didn’t have the same effect.

Lena should be reading reports, or packing up and going home and getting her luggage together for her trip. She should be letting her employees go home so they could have dinner. She should act like an adult.

But once she started daydreaming, it quickly led to daydreaming about Supergirl saving her, putting her arms around her and carrying her off. One part of Lena really just wanted to have Kara hold her, to rest her head on Kara’s shoulder, and to have Kara tell her everything would be fine. The other part would flash her scenes from her sex dream at really inopportune times, like in shareholder meetings.

Winn. Winn or J’onn? She could check in, see how they were doing with her technology, ask if they had any questions. Wrangle a visit to the DEO. Lena might bump into Supergirl. And if she didn’t, she could talk to Alex. Alex seemed to dislike her, but she was always polite, and answered questions. Lena would have to think of some to ask, but… she texted Winn.

 

_[Winn]: OMG I’m so glad to hear from you. I took this apart and can’t get it back together. Come over tomorrow and help me._

 

Lena smiled. That would do just fine.

 

#

 

Supergirl was sent out by the DEO to investigate a report of a potential piece of alien debris in the desert 30 miles from town. It took her a bit to find it, because the reported location was pretty far off from where it was actually located, but the blurry photo she had been given matched what she eventually found. Which turned out to be a very elaborate human-made art project intended to look like a crashed spaceship. It was amazing work, and whomever had created it had put a lot of time and effort into crafting it. The artist in Kara was really impressed. It could almost be real, except that the words engraved on the hull and throughout the interior were in the Klingon language. Unfortunately the unknown creator had chosen to place their very clever art piece on government land, so it would have to go. Kara dropped a geo-locator so the DEO could find the place again, but she planned on making a case to J’onn that she could easily move the work someplace it could be admired that wasn’t owned by the government. She felt the hard work the artist had put into it deserved a real audience.

She made her way back to the DEO building and hunted around for J’onn to make her report, only to find him in a lab, heads down with Winn over a piece of equipment along with Lena Luthor, who was wearing safety glasses, a lab coat and an official visitor badge. Lena was demonstrating something to them, and no one noticed Supergirl at all. Alex was lurking around in the background with a frosty look on her face. Kara listened to Lena explaining what she was doing to the model she was working on for a while until it seemed like Lena reached a conclusion.

“Hey.” She said finally, stepping into the room. All heads swiveled her direction. Lena in particular seemed to light up, and Kara felt that warmth she always felt when Lena seemed happy.

“Hey!” Winn said. “Lena came over to help me reconstruct her miniature model of the quantum-entanglement portal. But the Phorian-safe version! We solved that issue, and we think it will still work. So the plan of being able to move small items across distances, like food, medicine - that could still be a reality.”

“How come you had to reconstruct it? Was it broken?” Kara asked.

“Well, no. I mean, I took it apart to figure out how it was working, and I couldn’t quite get it back together. But Lena was great! We sorted it all out.” Winn said, a bit sheepishly. Lena smiled and put a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s okay! I understand what went wrong there. Anyone could have got it turned around a bit.” Lena reassured him.

“So it works now?” Kara said.

“Well, maybe. We have to test in a controlled environment. Lena’s going to come back in a few weeks and help us create the test bed and control cases.”

“That sounds awesome.” Kara said.

Alex stepped forward. “So, what was your space debris? I figured you’d carry it back here. Unless it’s contaminated? Do we need to send a team out?”

“Actually, no.” Kara said. “It was a bust. I mean, I found it and it was really cool, but it was someone’s art project.”

“Really, that’s all it was?” Alex said. “I was hoping for something to study.”

“Yep. It’s actually a pretty impressive piece of sculpture. I’m hoping J’onn will let me move it somewhere less illegal. I can show the photos I took.”

“Huh. We can talk about that.” J’onn said. He seemed a bit preoccupied to Kara.

“Is there something wrong, J’onn?” Kara asked.

“No! No, just realizing that I have something to go take care of and it’s getting late. But I want to talk to you before you leave, Supergirl. Can you find me in an hour or so? We can figure out what to do with your sculpture. And I have something else I need to discuss.” J’onn said.

“Um, sure. I’ll look for you after awhile.”

“Great. Lena, it was nice to work with you this afternoon. I hope you’ll be able to come back and visit us soon.” He held out his hand to her.

“Sure. I’d enjoy that.” Lena said, shaking his hand. He strode off, and Lena turned to Supergirl.

“I’d love to see photos of the art project. If it’s not classified, or anything. I have an idea for somewhere you might move it, if J’onn lets you do that.” Lena said to Kara.

“Here. I took photos.” Kara pulled out her phone.

“You know what, guys? I think I have to go get some things done. I’ll catch you all later. Lena, it was nice to see you.” Alex said, nodding her head. Kara thought Alex didn’t really mean that, though. Her body was stiff and she didn’t have the loose, warm smile she usually did.

“Nice to see you too, Agent Danvers.” Lena nodded in return. Alex took her leave too, and all three remaining people watched her go.

“I don’t think Agent Danvers likes me very well.” Lena said.

“She just doesn’t know you. She’ll warm up eventually.” Winn said. “It took her forever to be nice to me. But we bonded over her having a crush on Detective Sawyer and now we’re friends.” Winn was twirling a screw driver around in his hands until he accidentally flipped it up in the air and it flew behind him.

“I don’t think I have a crush that would make her bond with me.” Lena said.

That was true. But Kara really wanted Lena and Alex to get along. “Winn is right. She’ll come around. You saved her life, after all. She’s just being protective of Kara. You and Kara are from pretty different places.” Supergirl said.

“Well, I love Kara, so I hope I can win Agent Danvers over soon.” Despite Winn’s occasional cluelessness, Kara could see that he paid close attention to what Lena just said.

“Come take a walk with me and I’ll show you these photos.” Supergirl said. “Winn, do you mind if I steal her?”

“No, go on.” He made a gesture of shooing them out of the room.

 

#

 

Lena had Supergirl alone finally. Alone in a corridor of the of a government facility where there were people walking around, but still. _Alone-ish._ She had been right. The super suit was much more satisfying that Kara’s standard business-casual wear. She could see the outlines of Kara’s bicep brachii and how it flowed into the brachialis of her forearm. She could see Kara’s external obliques in her sides and how the flowed to the iliotibial tract of her hips, and… Lena was in danger of spontaneous combustion if she didn’t distract herself.

“Show me the photos of the art project.” She urged.

Kara pulled out her phone and the two of them stood shoulder to shoulder, leaning against the wall while Kara flipped through them. Lena’s arousal was so strong Kara had trouble paying attention to what she was doing. Lena was really, really wet and Kara felt herself responding. More than anything she wanted to pull Lena close, arm around her slim waist, and run her hands down Lena’s gorgeous curves… she really needed to stop.

“I’m not sure about this art project, Supergirl.” Lena said, focusing finally on the photos. She took the phone from Kara’s hand and flipped back to the beginning, a photo of the fake ship partly buried in sand. “That doesn’t look familiar to you?”

“No… I… should it?”

“Maybe you didn’t have a chance to see them closely where you were, but that looks vaguely like some of the smaller Daxamite invasion ships. It’s not one. But… the design is similar. Were you able to read the writing?”

“Enough to know recognize it’s Klingon, but not to know what it said. I thought that was just an artistic statement of some kind.”

“I don’t know. I wouldn’t rule out this being a political statement. Maybe get a Klingon translator. Probably Winn knows.”

“I’m sure he knows how to read it. Thanks Lena.”

Lena set her hand on Kara’s bicep and squeezed. “You’re welcome. In case I don’t see you before I get back from Metropolis, be safe. I should… head home.”

She didn’t want to leave, but couldn’t think of a plausible excuse to stay. But the way that Supergirl leaned toward her, it seemed like she didn’t want Lena to leave either.

 

#

 

“Lena Luthor knows Supergirl and Kara Danvers are the same person.” J’onn said to Kara, after he shut his office door behind her. She had seen Lena on her way home and then looked around for J’onn.

“She does? I… did you read her mind?” Kara asked.

“I didn’t really have a choice. She had a reaction when you walked in and it was… intrusive.” Kara had an idea about what that reaction was. “She very clearly knows; she was thinking of you as Kara and comparing you in both personas. Somehow we’ve got to get her to sign an NDA.”

“I’ve been wondering if she knew, but other than… she hasn’t said anything to me.”

“Other than what?” J’onn asked.

It was embarrassing, but if anyone would understand having an intrusive power, it was J’onn. “My heightened sense of smell. I can tell when people around me are having… certain responses to sexual stimuli. And Lena was, to both Kara and Supergirl.”

“So a bit like my ability to read minds.” J’onn observed.

“Yes. It’s always been an awkward thing. Too often I know information about people I wish I didn’t.” Kara said.

“Well, we can’t exactly confront her without telling her I could read her mind. I think you’ll have to just tell her the truth as if you don’t know anything. And then ask her to sign the forms.” J’onn said.

“I’ve been wanting to tell her for a while, and I was planning on talking to you about it. Lena and I are good friends, and lying to her is making me unhappy. I want her to be able to trust me.”

“Forgive me for asking, but… just good friends, Kara? Or is there something more there?” J’onn asked. “She seems pretty… hopeful.”

“I’m not… ready for a relationship with anyone after Mon-El.” Kara said. “And this is really new on her part. She didn’t have this reaction to me before. I wonder if it’s not… just an emotional reaction to the invasion and everything that happened.”

“I didn’t really get that sense from her, based on what she was thinking. But I think you’ll have to work that out with her. It’s time to tell her. Maybe see if you can meet with her before she leaves town.”

 

#

 

Lena was very aware this was another dream; the sky over National City was red, and the source was a bright red sun. She was on the L-Corp roof, getting ready for a helicopter flight when she was struck in the side by a chain that wrapped around her waist. She was pulled roughly toward the source and almost fell, before she was able to turn and see who her assailant was. He pulled her toward him, and she stumbled forward. 

Lena’s bodyguards were shooting at him, but he threw something - several objects - and the guns went silent behind her.

Her captor was enormous and grey and clearly alien. He was shirtless and incredibly muscular, riding some sort of space machine that looked like a motorcycle. His eyes were red, he had long dark hair, and he smelled absolutely awful. Lena gagged as he dragged her closer. 

“Aw, little lady. You’re just the cutest thing, aren’t you? I’m Lobo. I been sent to git you and deliver you. You smell delicious.”

This was just a dream, Lena told herself. She could wake up. But why wasn’t she? The alien pulled her into his huge arm and pressed her to him. The smell gagged her again and she struggled to push away. His hand settled on her ass and he held her tight.

“I like it when they fight, little girl. So you’re Supergirl’s toy? That’s precious. They didn’t say I had to deliver you all perfect, now. Just enough of you so she would come and git you. You hold real still and this won’t hurt a bit.” 

The alien started to pull at her skirt and she heard it tear. She beat her hands against his chest until she finally, finally woke up, in her own room, safe. 

Something was really wrong with her dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More of Kara's backstory coming up next.


	6. Epikoinos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flashback to Kara in Middle School. Eliza and Jeremiah Danvers finally figure out what's up with Kara's reproductive system, after consulting with Superman and recruiting outside help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I took great liberties with canon about Alura's Artificial Intelligence device here. It always bugged me that Kara didn't find out about it on the show until she was much older, and that a computer expert had to show it to her. It seemed unlikely that her parents wouldn't give her the means to access it on her own. I wrote this section of the story long before the end of season two.

Jeremiah had recruited Alex’s help working in the basement lab with Kara’s pod computer for over a year, downloading and running programs against the navigation and recording data that the pod had stored over Kara’s long path from Krypton to Earth. Alex thrived on scientific data, and they had charted Kara’s path through space, analyzed the data about Kara’s sleep patterns, made charts of the obstacles that the ship had encountered. It was fascinating stuff, and they both hoped once they had it assembled so Kara could read it, she would know more about her life in the pod. Kara knew what they were studying, but hadn’t shown any interest in joining them. She shied away from anything associated with the vessel that had saved her, and nobody wanted to push.

Early on, Jeremiah and Alex realized that the device was also equipped with an encrypted data store beyond the simple navigation and recording store they could access. They had tried everything to unlock it, but were unsuccessful. Alex had been studying encryption programs, but neither she or her Dad were experts in the field. Unfortunately, they didn’t dare recruit someone to help them decode the lock. Any request about complex encryption would bring the government to their door, and Kal-El made it clear that Kara needed to stay out of government hands.

When Eliza came to speak to her husband about what she had discovered when she examined Kara, Jeremiah realized that maybe trying to get into that data store was a higher priority than they had given it. 

After a more detailed exam and an ultrasound, Eliza had discovered that Kara seemed to have dual reproductive systems. She seemed to have a female system with vagina, uterus and ovaries for carrying a child, and a smaller system of internal testes that sat next to their ovary companions and connected to a very small penis that sat where a clitoris would be on a human. From what Kara had described, she was able to ejaculate from that penis. Eliza didn’t have the means to determine if both systems were viable there in their home, and she wouldn’t want to expose Kara and her unusual anatomy to any other doctor. She might be able to take ejaculate and have it tested quietly, but she didn’t want to ask Kara to provide it. 

They needed to talk to Kal-El. This was going to be an awkward conversation.

 

#

 

Fortunately, they stumbled on the key to unlock the hidden storage data before Kal-El made his way to them. Jeremiah had brought the computer upstairs to the living room on a hunch - Kara didn’t have the cryptography background to unlock this complex system, but a key must exist because she would need to access it. There must be some way she could unlock it. Maybe if she was nearby? But it didn’t turn on when she touched it. Then he thought of the clothes she had been wearing when she was found. A long white gown, a necklace. Eliza had put them away soon after she arrived, because they made Kara so sad. She brought the clothes to the living room, and the necklace Kara had been wearing lit up, and a ring of light on the dark computer case suddenly glowed. A beam of light appeared. It was a figure of a beautiful woman in a blue gown the color of the night sky.

“Mom!” Kara fell to her knees in front of the image.

“Kara, my beloved daughter.”

“Is it really you?” Eliza, Jeremiah and Alex all moved closer to Kara and to the hologram image of her mother.

“No, my darling. This is just an image of me. I recorded it so I could tell you as much as I could about your home world. Do you have questions?”

Kara looked at Eliza. She had no idea how to ask what she needed to know. 

“Alura, I’m Eliza Danvers. I’m caring for Kara here on Earth. We wondered if you could tell us more about how reproduction works on your home world.”

Much of what Alura told them was the simple information that Kara had described to them once. Kryptonians reproduced primarily through gametes harvested from their parents, which were genetically engineered to eliminate imperfections and incubated in labs to ensure perfect conditions for development. Kara told them that much after they ran into a pregnant lady in the grocery and she had been afraid of her.

Alura elaborated on details that Kara had not yet had explained to her on her own planet. Very few of their people reproduced through physical contact, mainly because the damage from their planet’s environment made natural impregnation rare. And, Alura said, after thousands of years, few Kryptonians experienced physical arousal on their own anymore, without medical intervention. “Arousal was part of a primitive system of mating that we outgrew as we became a more advanced society. Our society considers the idea of mating physically through arousal and connection to be undignified. Our sacred rituals for harvesting gametes and perfecting them honor the dignity of the parents and the child given to them by Rao.”

Jeremiah and Eliza exchanged glances.

Eliza asked the delicate question they needed to know. “Do people on your planet have dual reproductive systems? With both what Earth people call “male’ and ‘female’ functions in one person?”

“We did at one time. We have a primary system that is viable; and a secondary system that has long been vestigial and doesn’t function. The primary system determines the secondary sex characteristics of each person. In the far distant past, both systems functioned and a person had an option of carrying a child for their partner or impregnating them. Often, a couple would have children in both ways to ensure that many variations of their genetic material were passed along, but in the last 100 generations, those secondary systems became dormant and no longer emerged at puberty.”

Eliza’s attention peaked at that phrasing. “Could I ask more about that?” 

“Of course.” Alura said.

“In the example of a primary female, the male system is ‘dormant’ - does that mean that the male organ doesn’t become larger at puberty, or ejaculate fluids?”

“Correct. Many generations ago the male portion would become enlarged at puberty to almost the size of a primary male, and emit genetic material, but that changed long ago. Now the male organ remains the size it is at birth and stays tucked up inside the anatomy.”

Kara’s breathing grew short and her expression was wide-eyed. Eliza realized that Kara was following Eliza’s line of thought as well. Her male system emerging on this planet in different conditions may not be dormant. Unfortunately, Alex was also making intuitive leaps based on the information she had heard. And she was thinking about Kal-El.

“Okay, but what about the primary male? They used to have a vagina and uterus and could get pregnant?” Alex asked.

“Yes.”

“Do they have a menstrual cycle?” Alex said.

“No longer. But when those systems were not vestigial, they did.”

The whole conversation from Alura was delivered in a factual tone, and was not accompanied by emotional expression. Eliza thought that the face and gestures were recordings, but they seemed to be matched to data that was written, not spoken aloud by the actual woman. Eliza wondered if the actual woman would have delivered the information in the same way, and judging by Kara’s expression of deep sadness and distress, the girl recognized the difference between this simulation and her real mother. She appeared to be overwhelmed.

“Alura, thank you for this information. We have much to think about, and Kara needs to get some sleep. We will call on you in the future.”

“I will be here when you need me.” The figure answered, and bowing, disappeared.

“Alex, could you go to bed? We need to talk to Kara.”

“Yes, but when Kal-El gets here, I have SO many questions for him…” Alex said.

“Go!” Jeremiah said, and Alex scrambled up the stairs.

“Kara.” Eliza took a deep breath and continued. “I think it is possible… that your secondary system may not be ‘dormant’ as your mother describes it for adults on Krypton.” 

Kara nodded. 

“Maybe our sun affects you differently. Maybe… I don’t know. But if you have another… emission… if the sticky stuff you had come out happens again, we might need to test it.” Eliza stopped, overwhelmed with what she was asking of Kara. Jeremiah took over.

“Look, kiddo. For people on earth, for boys, this is totally normal. It happens all the time. You don’t have to be embarrassed. Just… wipe it up with a washcloth, and put it in a baggie and stick in the freezer, then tell me or your mom, and we’ll take care of it. That way we know what to do, and how things are working, okay?” He helped her get up and gave her a hug. “Now get to bed. And don’t let Alex bug you with a bunch of questions. Just tell her to mind her own business, okay?” Kara nodded and climbed the stairs.

When they were sure she was gone, Eliza and Jeremiah turned to each other.

“Oh, my god. What are we going to do? Gym class? When do they start changing for gym, anyway?” Jeremiah asked.

“They do already! But I think we have time to think about it. It’s not large enough to be noticeable when she’s changing right now. Maybe it will stay small.” 

“How large is it?” He realized he hadn’t asked that.

“Like a baby penis. Bigger than a clitoris. We have time to sort this out. Let’s go to bed.”

“I never thought I’d have a ‘wet dreams’ conversation in this house.” Jeremiah laughed as he followed Eliza upstairs. She elbowed him in the gut. “Our society considers the idea of mating physically through arousal and connection to be undignified.” He said in her ear, mimicking Alura’s intonation. Eliza shushed him as they reached the top of the stairs.

 

#

 

As it turned out, it was just a week later when Kara came to whisper to Eliza about the baggie in freezer. Kal-El still had not dropped by to answer questions, but judging by the news of major events from Metropolis, it was understandable. Eliza raced the baggie into the city to a private lab one of her former college roommates, Dr. Gina Thorpe, owned. She explained very little about where it came from, but Gina had some serious questions after she ran tests. Eliza wouldn’t let her give the info over the phone. She drove in to town and took her old friend out to lunch.

“Dr. Danvers, you have some explaining to do.”

“I’ll explain if you tell me what you know, Dr. Thorpe.”

“It’s definitely viable. Billions of swift, strong little swimmers. And not human ones. This is alien DNA, isn’t it? Where on earth is it from? Or not on earth?”

“It’s a project that we’re working on. But with a private contractor. And if the government knew, we’d be in real trouble.”

“God, Eliza, what are you doing? Wait. Is this Superman’s spunk? Did he ask you to test it? Because that would be… that would make sense, based on…”

“You destroyed it, right? And did all the work yourself?”

“Yes, and yes. This is all the sequencing here.” She laid a file on the table. “The sample is destroyed. And you owe me big time.”

“Anything you need, Gina.”

“I’d hate to be Superman’s girlfriend, if that’s the quality of what he’s putting out. I have no idea whether it would cross with our DNA, but if it did, you’d be knocked up in no time.”

“Okay, maybe not so graphic, Gina.”

“You brought it to me, Danvers.”

 

#

 

“How do we talk about safe sex and not knocking girls up with our 14-year-old daughter?” Eliza asked.

“That’s only one side of this equation." Jeremiah said. "We still have to make sure our 14-year-old daughter doesn’t get knocked up by some boy. Where do the girl parts kick in with this scenario?” Eliza punched him in the shoulder. "I'm just channeling your dad, honey."

 

#

 

When Kara’s cousin showed up to see her and answer the Danvers’ questions, Eliza let him greet Alex and Kara for a few moments and then drove them into town so Jeremiah could talk with Kal-El. They had decided it was easier to tell him about Kara’s AI device and about what they had learned without the girls listening in. Alex made it weird enough by raising her eyebrows at Kal-El and smirking when she passed by him on the way out the door. 

“We have some questions to ask you about Kryptonian anatomy and reproduction.” Jeremiah said after the car pulled out of the drive.

 

#

 

Kal-El took off before the girls got home, but Jeremiah had his phone number now so Kara could video call him, and Clarke arranged a regular schedule to talk to his cousin. They didn’t share Superman’s personal information with either of the girls, but it confirmed much of what he and Eliza had suspected. Earth’s sun made Kryptonian’s vestigial systems go back online. Kal-El had said his parent’s Artificial Intelligence device discussed the “modern” methods of gamete harvesting and incubation, but didn’t cover the information about dual reproductive systems. Perhaps they thought the information was obsolete. He had no idea when he went through puberty what was happening with his own anatomy. He had sorted it out on his own as quietly as he could with Mrs. Kent.

When he brought Kara to the Danvers’ home, she was in such distress because of her sensory issues that Kal-El didn’t even think of reproduction. He was a reporter, not a doctor, so her extreme anxiety was his first concern, and getting her into expert hands was critical. He also didn’t know how to convey the possibilities of Kara’s situation when he came back to visit. He had no way of knowing what Kara’s reproductive system might be like, or if hers would function like his, because she hadn’t grown up on Earth.

He wanted, if he could, to see Kara’s mothers Artificial Intelligence, to ask questions that his own parents hadn’t shared. But Jeremiah was hesitant to share it without Kara being there, and she was already upset about the subject. Kara had been refusing to turn the system on to ask any more questions, becoming distressed when the Danvers asked. They weren’t willing to alarm her now with her cousin present.

 

#

 

A few weeks later Kara got her first period, and she came to Eliza for help. Her little penis seemed to have retreated back inside somehow during her menstrual cycle, closer to its ‘dormant’ state, while her primary female system took over. 29 days later, the secondary system came back online. They still had no way to test if her eggs were viable. Having them extracted wasn’t an option. But given that it was her “primary” system, and the secondary system worked, they assumed her eggs were fertile, too.

Both parents sat her down for “the talk” about safe sex at different times and with different emphasis on how not to behave, which would have been confusing except that Kara had looked up most of the information about human boys and about girls separately online. She did it with the encouragement of Alex, who was just as curious about the general subject (if not the specifics of her sister, which felt like an invasion of privacy.) Learning how to make her penis ejaculate on purpose was info that Kara stored away but refused to try herself. She was stressed enough trying to clean up after the accidental ones, and worried constantly about the crusty washcloths she had to leave in the laundry hamper and whether Eliza noticed them. Eliza got Kara her own clothes hamper separate from Alex’s without saying anything.

Kara’s two systems seemed to alternate at around 58 days, which Alex was jealous of; Kara had her period every other month. Kara grew taller and puberty filled her out into her girl form more fully over the next year. She got less gawky and accident prone, too, and began moving with an easy grace that Alex had always had. Alex also became a young woman, and the girls were starting to turn heads wherever they went. Alex ignored it because she had her nose in a textbook, but Kara noticed everything. And she started to notice when people noticed her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you don't hate Superman too much.


	7. Cryptomnesia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara confesses the truth to Lena, finally.

Lena sat up to try to catch her breath, but her anxiety from the dream was too high and she started to hyperventilate. Her phone rang, and she calmed enough see it was Kara, so she answered.

“Lena. Come to the balcony and let me in. Can you do that?” She could, but… she went to the living room and saw Supergirl standing outside. She opened the door, and let her in, and Supergirl immediately took her face in her hands.

“Are you okay? Your heart is beating way too fast. I could hear it from my apartment. Something is wrong.” Supergirl said.

Lena fell into her arms and pressed her cheek against Supergirl’s shoulder, and Supergirl put her arms around her. “I’m fine now that you’re here. I just need a minute to calm down.” Lena said.

Supergirl held her for quite awhile and listened to her heart beat until it was no longer elevated. “What happened, Lena? Was someone here?”

“No. I don’t know. I don’t know what’s happening to me.” Lena said. Supergirl waited a moment, but Lena said nothing more.

“Can you describe it to me?” Supergirl said softly after some time had passed. She still held Lena securely to her, careful not to squeeze too tightly.

“I’m having dreams. Nightmares. Some of them are nightmares. But they don’t feel right. They’re too vivid. Like I’m really there. And tonight…” Kara could hear the trembling in her breath. “Is there an alien named Lobo? A bad alien?”

“I… yes. There is. Where did you hear about him?” Kara asked.

“In my dream. Other than that… I’ve never heard of him before. But he was… frightening.” Supergirl moved back to look at Lena, perplexed, but still held her.

“Will you describe him to me?”

“Big. Grey, with lots of muscle. Red eyes and black hair. He rode on some sort of flying motorcycle? He smelled horrible. He had a chain and he used it to capture me.” Lena said.

“That sounds like the real guy. He’s one of Superman’s enemies. He is real. I don’t… when did you start having these dreams?”

“After…” Lena waved her hand, unable to describe Rhea having kidnapped her so soon after the disturbing dream. 

“He was trying to capture you?”

“He did capture me. I was getting in the helicopter on the roof of L-Corp. But I knew there was something wrong; that it was a dream. Because the sun was red, and the sky was red. And he threw his chain and captured me, and he killed my bodyguards. And then he dragged me to him and… he said he had been hired to deliver me to someone, to lure you to them. But it didn’t matter if I got there in one piece as long as you would try to come after me to save me, so he could to what he wanted to me…” Lena couldn’t describe the rest, and Kara pulled her close and held her again.

“He’s a mercenary. A bounty hunter. He does kidnap people for payment. I don’t know what this dream means, but we need to assume that maybe this is real, and you are in real danger. You can’t go to Metropolis.”

“I have to. For work. I’m definitely going.” Lena pushed away from Kara.

“Lena, I can’t protect you if you leave town. You need to stay here.” Kara almost tried to pull her back, but realized that might scare Lena.

“I have a job to do. And you’re not in charge of me, Supergirl.”

“I… really want you to stay. I know I can’t tell you what to do, but can I at least ask? Can we figure something out?”

“I’m buying a couple of factories here in National City. But the company that owns them is in Metropolis. I need to go there to negotiate. There’s no way I could ask them to come here… and this needs to be done soon, because we have some plans that are time-dependent. If you think I’m in danger, you could come with me.” It was an impossible request, Lena knew, because it involved Kara and her job at CatCo, but Lena was feeling selfish and scared. If she could have Supergirl, she would feel safe.

Supergirl sighed, and leaned against the back of the couch behind her, but she took Lena’s hands in hers. “I have something I need to tell you. I’ve been wanting to tell you for months, but Alex wouldn’t let me, and I worried that J’onn would be angry, too. So I waited. But… you deserve to know the truth, and that I’ve been lying to you. I didn’t want to, and it’s not that I don’t trust you… But it would put you in danger.”

Lena decided to make it easier on her, because she knew Kara would continue to apologize many more times before she ever got to the point.

“You are Kara Danvers. Kara Danvers is Supergirl. I know what you’re going to tell me.” Lena said. Kara didn’t seem very surprised that she knew, Lena noted.

“How did you figure it out?” Kara asked finally.

“You smell like Kara’s perfume. The muscles in your back when you hug me, hold me. Your hands around my waist. I recognize your body, Kara. How could I not? It’s one thing when you’re overhead floating in the air, or when you stand ten feet away, but when you hold me, carry me? It’s unmistakeable.” Lena had destroyed Lex’s files; it would do no good to bring his research up now. And it didn’t matter; if she hadn’t already known, the physical contact with Supergirl would have told her, especially after Lillian’s assassination attempt.

“I’m sorry I had to lie. I didn’t want to. Why didn’t you say something? You aren’t angry that I lied to you?” Kara asked.

“Of course not. You need to have a life. Beyond Supergirl. You need to be normal. I know what it means to be in the public eye with no way to escape. Of course I understand. But I didn’t know whether to bring it up. I thought I should, but… I was worried you might not trust me.”

“It’s not that I didn’t trust you. But knowing puts lots of people in danger. It puts you in danger, Lena. Like this.”

“I’m always in danger, Kara. My own family wants to kill me.”

“You’ll keep my secret? The DEO will want you to sign a non-disclosure.”

“Whatever you need. But I’m still going to Metropolis. Dream or no dream. If you think this Lobo is going to kidnap me… well, can’t he do that here? I was on the roof of L-Corp in my dream.”

“I need to talk to Superman. He’s fought Lobo five or six times and beaten him. He’ll know what I need to know. I’ll have to see if I can get time off work. I’m pretty sure Cat would intervene and let me if Snapper says no.”

“I would postpone this trip if I could, Kara. Especially after… but I can’t. But just - stay here with me tonight, please? I don’t want to be alone.”

“I’ll stay. Go back to bed, Lena. I’m going to do a quick perimeter check.”

“You can stay in my room, Kara. The bed is more comfortable.”

“I’ll be fine out here on the couch.”

“Okay, but what if he comes in through the bedroom window?” Lena asked.

“Well, you’ll have to sleep in the tub, then. The bathroom is the only interior room.” Kara said.

“Now you’re just being ridiculous.”

“I know. It’s getting late. We’re both ridiculous at this point. Go to bed. I’ll be there in a bit.” Kara said.

Lena did as she said, and settled back in bed and turned out the light, waiting for Kara. She slipped in the room and locked the door behind her a few moments later.

In the moonlight from the window, Lena watched Kara move quietly across the room and settle on the other side of the bed, kicking off her boots. She curled up on top of the covers and used her cape as a blanket. 

“Do you want some pajamas? It might be more comfortable.” Lena whispered. She wasn’t sure why, but it seemed like the thing to do in the dark.

“No, I’m fine. I’d rather have my suit handy if something happens.” Kara whispered back.

“Okay. Let me know if you change your mind.” Lena said.

“Hey. You said that you had more than one nightmare. What other ones have you had?” Kara asked.

Lena described the factory explosion dream to Kara, and how she had been following her mother.

“Was it someplace you’ve been before?” Kara asked.

“No. I didn’t recognize the place. I assume some of the details are just oddities my brain added, maybe… like regular dreams, you know? Strange things pop up that make sense in the dream but are just weird when you think about it when you wake up. Like the sun being red. Or me having bodyguards. I have security, but no personal guards following me around.” Lena said. 

Kara was quiet for a long time.

“Was the sex dream one of these vivid ones? Part of the same set?” Kara asked.

Lena had to think a bit before answering. “I don’t know. It was… vivid. But I wasn’t afraid. I wasn’t being hurt. It wasn’t a nightmare or anything.”

“Okay. I think we need to talk to J’onn about these tomorrow,” Kara said. “I’m worried you were exposed to some sort of alien virus or bacteria on the Daxamite ship. I can’t explain why you were seeing Lobo. But the other stuff seems like standard dream stuff except for the vivid part, and the strong emotions you said you felt. Hopefully, it’s nothing and Lobo isn’t after you.”

“Hopefully.” Lena agreed. She laid awake for a long time, wishing she had more to say, but not wanting to disturb Kara. 

When she drifted off to sleep and the dream started, she wasn’t worried. It was a dream, after all. Lena was sitting on a park bench on the beachfront with a book. It was a cool day, maybe in Autumn? She was dressed warmly, with running shoes on, but not workout clothes. There was a long stretch of grass in front of her leading down to the boardwalk in the distance and the grey waves crashing against the shore. The horizon blended into the water and there was a mist rolling in.

A white dog with a tennis ball in its mouth came running up to her across the grass. It tried to put its feet in her lap, but she noticed the muddy paws and stopped it. It dropped the ball at her feet and stood there looking at her. When she didn’t respond, it pushed the ball up against her feet. Lena picked up the ball and tossed it away, and the dog chased after it and caught it, bringing it back and dropping it at her feet again, pushing it up against her toes. She threw it further the next time, and the dog retrieved it again. Lena set her book down and stood up, so she could throw the ball further, watching the dog’s lean body chase it across the grass, catching the ball while it was still in motion and racing back toward her with joyful exuberance. They did this again and again; Lena tried to throw the ball higher and further each time. The last time, she threw the ball so high and long that the dog was able to leap impossibly high into the air and catch it before it hit the ground. 

The dog stopped and dropped the ball several feet away from her so she couldn’t retrieve it. Lena sat down again, and the dog came to her and curled up with its head on her feet. She read her book for a long time, but when she tried to remember the words on the page, they were blurry. She wondered when the dog’s owner would come back for him, before she noticed the leash sitting next to her on the bench. She reached down to scratch the dog’s head, and he licked her hand as she turned over the tag on his collar. Engraved on it was her own address.

Lena woke up calmly this time, but sad. She didn’t know the dog, but now she missed it. It took a few moments for her notice the slow breathing next to her and realize that Kara was still here. She turned to watch the moonlight spill across the face of her friend, still curled up under the red cloth. Kara’s hand was stretched out across the bed. Lena put her own in it and closed her eyes again.


	8. Gütiokipänjä Bakery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara prepares for a possible Lobo invasion, Lena prepares to visit Metropolis, and both of them avoid how they feel. Lena meets Kara's adoptive mom under less than ideal circumstances, but it doesn't stop her from liking her. And Eliza has to yell at someone, so she picks Alex.

Kara’s first step in the morning was to call Alex and tell her about Lobo in Lena's dream, and what she thought might be happening to Lena. She did it from Lena’s bathroom while Lena was still asleep. Alex seemed to agree that they couldn’t take chances, because she picked four DEO agents to be Lena’s personal bodyguards, and they showed up at her apartment to escort her to work, much to Lena’s irritation. Any suggestion of instability or attempts on her life caused L-Corp’s stock to dip and her employees to panic, and she wanted to avoid that for something as insubstantial as a dream. But arguing with both of the Danvers sisters was outside of Lena’s abilities, so she gave up.

Alex also arranged for the Metropolis branch of the DEO to have agents available when Lena arrived in that city. Kara didn’t know yet if she would be with Lena in Metropolis, but at least Lena would be protected by people who understood the threat the last Czarnian could be. She hoped all of this was unnecessary panic. 

Kara also knew that convincing Lena to visit the DEO to get an exam was going to be hard, but rather than trying to talk Lena into letting Alex give her a physical, Kara took a path that she hoped would get less argument. She called Eliza, who agreed to drive in from Midvale that morning. Lena could hardly turn down Kara’s mother, especially if she was making a special trip to see her. Alex’s agents escorted Lena to the DEO building at her lunch hour.

 

#

 

“You have a low-grade fever, Lena. Didn’t know you notice that?” Eliza asked her. The back of her hand was on Lena’s forehead, and Lena had a sudden lost memory surface of her mother - her real mother - doing the same thing to check her temperature. Lillian had never touched her when she was sick.

“No. I didn’t realize.”

“It’s all right. We’ll get the exact number here in a minute.” She held a thermometer out for Lena to put in her mouth, and Lena took it. “We’ll figure out what’s going on. Don’t worry.” Eliza smiled at her. Kara had described a stern woman who lectured, or a sad woman who wasn’t always available to her children, but this woman was warm and comforting. She and Alex didn’t have very similar faces, but their body types were the same; they had the same willowy, easy grace and confidence.

Eliza wrote down her temperature and took Lena’s oxygen levels and blood pressure, then listened to her heart and lungs. This was a strange way to meet her friend’s mother, and Lena was very glad she was wearing her own dress and not some paper gown. She was also glad that Eliza had sent Kara away too, and closed the door to the exam room so Lena could have privacy.

“I need to take blood samples, but I’d like to ask you some questions first so I can figure out what I might be looking for.” Eliza sat down on the stool next to the exam table and took Lena’s hand. “Kara told me a little about what happened when you were kidnapped. But I wondered if you could tell me the whole story? I know that might be hard to talk about, and I’m sorry about that. I need to understand what might have happened to you.”

“No, I understand. Anything that helps figure this out.” Lena said. She explained to Eliza everything that had happened, including the information about Rhea’s attempt to force her to marry Mon-El and the threat the woman made about stealing her DNA and using it to create a child. Lena could tell that Eliza was trying hard not to react, but some of her upset and anger seeped through.

“I’m so sorry she did that to you, Lena. You didn’t deserve to have that happen to you.” Eliza said. Lena had been blaming herself, and it was the first time that anyone other than Kara had told her it was not her fault. She didn’t know how to answer.

“Tell me a little more about this quantum-entanglement portal you built. I know you did the inventing, but did you build it too, or were you on site when it was put together? Who did the work on it? Were there employees from your company involved?”

A handful of her own people had overseen the project, and Lena had been on site and hands on most of the time. She had done the primary building. But other workers were hired by Rhea. Which meant perhaps they had been Daxamites. Lena started to realize Eliza’s train of thought.

“You’re wondering if anyone else who worked on it is having the same symptoms I am? I’m not sure. There were a few of my own people. I can find out.”

“We should eliminate possibilities. Maybe something happened to you on the ship. Or maybe you were exposed to something when the portal was constructed, or opened.”

Lena gave Eliza an overview of how it worked. “Winn and J’onn know as much about it as I do at this point. They can probably answer questions too, if you need to know more.”

“That’s fine. They can help me with technical questions. But I hope you’ll let me call you with questions, too, Lena.”

“Of course. I’m happy to help.” Lena said.

“Well, I hope I’m the one doing the helping, dear.” Eliza squeezed her hand again and got up to find the equipment she needed to draw blood.

“What did you think of Mon-El?” Lena asked. She knew she shouldn’t ask, but she couldn’t help it.

“I thought he was a weenie, and not good enough for my daughter.” Eliza said. “And I certainly don’t think very much of his mother now. But don’t tell Kara I said that.”

“I won’t.” Lena promised.

 

#

 

Kara knew the conversation with Clark about Lena’s dream would be awkward. Most personal topics were with him, especially over the phone. The weird feeling about him seeming both older and also younger had never left her, and Clark had a tendency to lecture like he was a father or an uncle, which was irritating. It was better when they were in person and he had to look her in the eye. He could see when she was irritated. She would fly to Metropolis to have the discussion in person if she thought it would be easier, but she didn’t want to let Lena out of her sight any longer than she had to. So she bit the bullet and called from a quiet hallway at CatCo. 

Fortunately, Lois answered Clark’s cell. “He’s not here. He’s doing something and left his phone again. Is it an emergency?”

“No. I just might need his help with something. Maybe you can help, actually.” Kara explained Lena’s dreams, the worries that the alien Lobo might be really involved, (“Ugh. That guy. He really smells bad.” Lois said) and her need to come with Lena to Metropolis.

“Don’t worry about work. Let me call Cat. I can take care of that one. Also, you and Lena better plan to have dinner with us while you’re here. I’ll be cooking, so you don’t need to worry about whether the food will be edible.” Kara loved Lois. She had a way of fixing the problems that made Kara anxious. And she didn’t ask awkward questions that Clark would have asked, like why Lena was so important to her, or how could she trust a Luthor?

Sure enough, two hours later Snapper Carr stormed into the newsroom and flung papers on her desk. “Cat is sending you to Metropolis to follow Lena Luthor around. She’s buying some new factories or some nonsense. Apparently Cat thinks it’s a big enough deal to wrangle you a seat on the Luthor’s private jet. It sounds like pandering to me; I don’t know how she thinks you’ll be objective if you’re flying around with your subject, but it wasn’t my call.”

“I’ll do my best to be objective, Snapper. Thank you.”

“Whatever. Just get me something interesting. I’m already bored with this subject.” He grumbled and went back to his office.

 

An hour later Clark sent Kara an email titled “Don’t worry about the Czarnian.” He told Kara that Kelex had built him a detector that would tell him if Lobo came to Earth again; it would identify the energy signature of Spacehogg, the flying motorcycle that Lobo used. “If he shows up in National City, you only have to delay him for 10 minutes or so, and I’ll be there to help out. Not that you can’t defeat him on your own, but he would be distracted by his hatred of me, and that would help.”

Clark also gave Kara a list of the times he had fought him, and what he had done. He had tricked Lobo into thinking he was dead, punched Lobo into orbit several times, teleported him across the galaxy, and paralyzed him. Other heroes had poisoned him and de-powered him with massive electrical shocks. Lobo could no longer clone himself as a result.

“I really think you could knock him into space easily if you catch him off-guard, but just in case, see if Winn can build a giant taser you could zap him with first. You’d have no trouble booting him into another galaxy after that. Hopefully this is all nothing. But just in case, tell Lena not to worry; we’ll be there to help.”

 

#

 

Alex answered her phone when she saw it was Eliza, even though her team was in the middle of a field exercise. Eliza was in National City, so she would find Alex if she didn’t answer, and that would be worse. She waved the team to continue and walked off to have some privacy.

“Please tell me that your sister is not sleeping with her.” Eliza said before Alex could finish “Hi mom.”

“With who now?” Alex was confused.

“With Lena Luthor.”

“I… no. I’m sure she’s not. She’s still all upset about Mon-El.” Alex said.

“Was Kara sleeping with him?” Eliza demanded.

“Mom. Of course they were.”

“How do you know that? Did she say?” 

Alex sighed. She didn’t want to be in the middle of this at all. “Yes, mom. Kara said so. He was… you know like her, and Kal-El. You know, in the reproduction way. So yeah. And before you get mad, he had some sort of Daxamite birth control method. Neither of Kara nor Mon-El were going to get knocked up. I yelled at her about it. You’ve got me well trained.”

“If you say so, I guess I won’t freak out. Although I can’t imagine that idiot understood enough about birth control to use it properly. But you’re sure she’s not sleeping with Lena? Lena is her type.” Eliza said.

She was right, but how on earth did Eliza know Kara’s type? As far as Alex knew, she had never met Quinn. She knew Devin, but not that they had dated. “I’m pretty sure both of them are too traumatized by what happened to start a relationship, but I’ll keep my eyes open.” Now that Alex said that out loud, she realized she wasn’t sure of that at all. She had been too wrapped up in Maggie to pay attention. But it been just a month since Mon-El had to leave. She wouldn’t move on that fast. Would she?

“Well, I like Lena Luthor. I don’t want to worry about her health. Any more than I already am.” Eliza said.

“So there is something?” Alex said.

“I’ll know more when I get her blood under a microscope. I may need to consult with you.” Eliza said.

“Let me know, and I’ll come in.” Alex said.

 

#

 

Kara had taken care of every danger she could think of. Now she just had to figure out how to deal with spending every waking minute of time with Lena in Metropolis without fantasizing about her. This was her friend, and Lena was in a stressful situation. Something was happening to her that they didn’t understand, and taking advantage of that would be disrespectful. Fortunately the boy part of her cycle was at its end and going dormant, so she didn’t have to hide an annoying alert that popped up when she liked someone. And Lena was irritated with her about the DEO guards and making her see her mom for an exam. Kara thought maybe she would stay that way for a while and Kara could avoid any awkward closeness until Lena texted her.

 

_  
[Lena]: Your mom is really nice. I’m glad I got to meet her, even under such weird circumstances. She said she’ll call tomorrow if she had ideas about what’s going on._

_[Lena]: Are you coming over to my apartment after work?_

_[Kara]: My mom was nice to you? She didn’t yell at you not to use super-speed in the house? Or that you can’t dry the dishes using heat vision? That is so not fair._

_[Kara]: Yes, I can come over, barring any emergency calls. The guards are still with you, right? You didn’t ditch them?_

_[Lena]: Well, she does think my quantum-entanglement portal might be the reason why I’m sick, but she didn’t yell at me about it at all. She said she’d figure it out_

_[Lena]: & not to worry. Can she adopt me? Also, no I did not ditch the guards. They are much too bright and figured out all my ploys._

_[Kara]: Good. I’m glad Alex sent the smart ones. Fortunately they’re all smart ones. Eliza thinks you’re sick? Like a cold, or? I should be done around 6._

_[Lena]: She said I seemed to have symptoms of a virus? She did blood work, so hopefully she’ll be able to discover what’s going on._

_[Kara]: She will. Cat is sending me to Metropolis with you to cover your factory acquisition. Snapper was livid and thinks there’s something fishy going on._

_[Lena]: I guess we better come up with something cool for you to write about. We were keeping the project under wraps, but maybe I can give you a preview of it._

_[Lena]: How did you convince Cat?_

_[Kara]: I didn’t. Lois Lane did. I’ll tell you more tonight.  
_

 

Kara flew to Lena’s, but changed clothes and took the elevator to Lena’s penthouse apartment and knocked, rather than going to the balcony. She felt like being just Kara again around Lena, at least tonight. Two of the DEO agents were stationed outside her door. She thought they other two were probably on the roof and parking garage respectively, but she didn’t check it out. Alex would know what she was doing with assignments. 

The minute Lena opened the door, Kara could smell pizza. The scent wafted out of the kitchen and she practically floated after Lena, who led her in that direction. Lena’s kitchen was enormous compared to hers and looked like something a professional chef would have in their home… and at the moment, it looked just like a professional chef was cooking there. 

“Did you make this pizza?” Kara asked. There were four huge pizzas; two cooling on racks and two others baking in the oven.

“Yes. I had a little time, so I whipped them up. I don’t just make kale salads, you know. Although I did make the veggie pizza for me. The others are for you.”

“I didn’t know you could cook.” Kara said.

“I can. I learned at boarding school. It was enjoyable feeding a dorm full of people, and it made Lillian livid. But I haven’t had a chance to do much cooking for years; I live alone. It’s not as much fun.” Lena said, while retrieving the last two pizzas from the oven.

“I will eat as many pizzas as you can bake. Or other food. I love other food, too.” Kara said this around a mouthful of pizza, having served herself from the cooling racks using a nearby plate and propping herself up on a bar stool next to the counter. Lena had planned to set the table, but Kara had settled in, so Lena climbed up on the other stool next to her.

“I can see. I’m glad you don’t have to pretend to have a human appetite any more. I always felt bad at lunch.” Lena said.

“That’s okay. I always have a little thing I like to call ‘second lunch.’” Kara said.

“Like the Hobbits, then.” Lena laughed.

“I’m not sure. I haven’t seen the movies.” Kara said.

“Really? That’s a scandal. I should alert the media. But really the books are good, too.” Lena said.

“You are a secret nerd.” Kara said.

“I’m a scientist. It’s not that big a secret. Also, how did Lois Lane make Cat send you to Metropolis?” Lena served herself some of the veggie pizza.

“Oh, Cat does whatever Lois wants.”

“I thought they were rivals? Haven’t they had several twitter fights and beaten each other for the same awards?” Lena asked.

“Carefully cultivated media spin. They’re good friends. But they used to be a couple. Years ago, before Lois dumped Cat to date Superman.”

“You’re kidding me!” Lena said.

“Nope. Lois told me a long time ago, but Cat confirmed it. She said she didn’t blame Lois, because Cat hadn’t been very good to her and did some cutthroat things at work. Cat said it was her biggest regret.”

“Wow. Should you be telling me this? Won’t they be mad?” Lena asked.

“It’s not that big a secret. Lois is pretty free about telling people, and Cat has mentioned it in front of quite a few CatCo staff. She brings it up in front of James because he gets embarrassed.”

“I can see why. Now I have a picture in my head of Lois Lane and Cat Grant making out.” Lena said.

“It gets even more awkward if you’re in the room with both of them. They like to flirt because it makes Superman all twitchy.” Kara said.

“I should probably not enjoy the idea of your cousin getting twitchy, but I do. Are you really sure he’s not going to be upset you’re helping me? I am a Luthor.”

“He sent me an email with all the info he has on Lobo, and told me to tell you not to worry; that we’ll be here to help you. He saw what happened to you on the Daxamite ship, and I talked to him about you. Pretty sure he’s not holding a grudge because of your brother.”

“Well, you can tell him I’m grateful. I do feel much safer.”

“Good. I think we have solid plans in place if Lobo shows up. And if he doesn’t, well that’s a good thing.” Kara said.

Kara had worked her way through the first pizza and Lena had finished a few slices of hers. “Do you want to watch a movie? Have you ever seen _Kiki's Delivery Service_?” Lena asked.

“Nope. Haven’t heard of it. But if you like it, I’m sure it will be fun.”

“Oh, I think you’ll enjoy it, too.” Come one, let’s turn on the television and I’ll put the movie on.”

“Okay.” Kara said, piling all of the slices from the second pizza onto her plate to take to Lena’s living room. Lena gave her a side-eye, but didn’t say anything. Kara was hoping that the pizza would be a buffer between herself and Lena while they watched TV, because she could tell, again, that Lena was turned on. And Kara was turned on. And she needed a buffer. Just thinking about Mon-El wasn’t working, because in comparison, spending time with Lena was so easy. They didn’t constantly have to negotiate what each of them wanted. They didn’t seem to be at odds with each other. And Lena did surprise things for her, like pizza. It was just pleasant and relaxing around Lena. Too much so. She should miss Mon-El more than this. But she didn’t.

Kara sat on the couch and Lena sat down directly next to her. They had done this before; shared a throw blanket and pillows. But this time she was far more aware that Lena was directly next to her. She finished the pizza in record time, and had no buffer to rely on. And as Lena leaned her head on Kara’s shoulder, Kara had to decide whether to talk to Lena about it, or just pretend she didn’t know what Lena was thinking. Pretending was easier. Kara leaned back against the corner of the couch and Lena curled up closer, leaning on her fully, her head on Kara’s shoulder and hand against her chest. Lena absently played with the buttons on her shirt, and she could feel Lena tracing the edge of the crest of her suit under the shirt as well. 

The film was delightful, but unusual. There was an air of melancholy through it that Kara found hard to pin down. “All of these Studio Ghibli films are like this. Beautiful but unusual and it takes awhile to understand them. They remind me of the dreams I’ve been having.” Lena said. They were quiet for a few minutes after Lena shut off the television.

“Lena…” Kara started to say.

“Don’t. Don’t ruin it. Just let it be. Just stay here and don’t talk about it.” Lena whispered.

“Okay.” Maybe this wasn’t easier with Lena. Maybe she would have to negotiate. But not tonight. Kara put her arms around Lena and held her until Lena fell asleep. Kara actually considered for a moment putting Lena in bed and going to masturbate in the bathroom, but Lena’s heart rate spiked and she shifted in Kara’s arms and Kara felt guilty for being selfish. Lena was having another dream.

 

Lena could tell, again, that it was a dream, because Lillian was there in the room with her. The lights in the room glowed green overhead, and Lena tried to get up from where she was lying, but she realized she was enclosed in glass. She was in a glass coffin, wearing the dress Rhea had picked out for her wedding.

“I’ve told you so many times, Lena, that the Kryptonians mean nothing but death to this world, but you don’t believe me. Now it’s too late, and you’re going to learn the hard way. Just remember that I tried to save you.” Lillian disappeared, and Kara was there, in the coffin with her. She was moving over her, touching her, pulling up the hem of the dress, searching for… 

“Kara. Get us out.” She pushed Kara’s hands away. “Stop and get us out of here.”

“Out of where?” Kara asked. Lena turned to point out the glass enclosure surrounding them, but it was gone. She was at her house, in her bed, wearing her own pajamas, and Kara was tugging them down, reaching for her, pressing her fingers between Lena’s legs until she found her way, and pushed inside her… 

 

Lena gasped and woke up. Her eyes were dry and she had to blink to see, to realize she was still on top of Kara on the couch.

“Are you okay? You had another dream?” Kara asked.

“Yes. I’ll tell you in the morning. I just want to sleep in my bed.” Lena said. Kara shifted until she was out from under Lena and then picked her up and carried her to the bedroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eventually they'll visit Metropolis, and Eliza will have answers. But next we should meet Kara's high school girlfriend.


	9. Teenage Wasteland

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara's secret high school girlfriend.

As Alex moved into high school, Kara’s crush on her friend Julia seemed to wane after a time. Kara started to focus on famous people on television and in the movies, which made Alex relax a lot. She had been worried about things with her friends becoming awkward, but Kara stopped acting so intense and Julia carried on being her friend without ever commenting. Alex had graduated from Midvale Middle School and started tenth grade at Midvale High next door, which shared a campus, while Kara moved to ninth grade. They saw each other less being in different buildings, and Kara started making friends of her own. She did well in class, but didn’t seem interested in extra curriculars the way Alex did. Alex was in every science-related club and Kara preferred to read alone in her free time, or talk to friends. When Kara joined chorus and art club, the Danvers parents were thrilled. She was slowly unfolding. 

Kara still had an awkward demeanor around boys. George Watkins was still an ass to her, but his friends didn’t join in, and many of them started talking to her like a real human being instead of a nerd. But Kara was cautious. She wasn’t likely to start dating a boy when half of the time her penis would start making itself the center of her attention in her pants. Especially since her unusual sense of smell made her realize when people were interested in others, including her.

Her penis did get larger, and she had to hide it more when it was in the non-dormant state. Fortunately her gym requirements were less intense in ninth grade; she could take ping pong and kickball classes instead of the sweaty physical conditioning class in eighth where she had to shower after class. Kara became much more coordinated at sports; she tossed the football and baseball with Alex and Jeremiah and her enormous strength would have put her at the top of any sports roster, but after the DEO visit, the Danvers discouraged her from joining a team where her ability would be noticed quickly. 

Kara felt immensely guilty for getting the Danvers family in trouble with the DEO, and was determined to follow the rules that would keep them safe. The forbidden night flight that brought the DEO to their doorstep was the worst thing that happened to Kara since her world exploded, and this was almost worse because she had fractured the Danvers family in the process. Jeremiah had been forced to join the secret organization, and was away most of the time carrying out missions of capturing and containing alien refugees and invaders. Eliza struggled to take care of things at home, and Kara did everything she could to make it easier on her adoptive mother, including being a model of obedience. 

 

Kara was attracted to boys and girls equally, but she only every talked about boys with her friends, and never about kids in her class. She could talk more with Alex about who she liked, and Alex would listen, although it was a little weird for Alex if Kara were into girls Alex knew. Eventually Alex’s curiosity overcame her squeamishness, though.

“How big is it, exactly?” Alex asked one night when she and Kara were hanging out in Alex’s bedroom. Kara was reading an entertainment magazine and Alex was at her desk studying for a test, but she could see Kara squirming uncomfortably on the bed, trying to arrange herself. 

“I mean, I don’t mean to be a perv or anything, but… I can’t help but be curious. Alura said it could be the size of a primary male, but I don’t know what that means on Krypton. I’m sorry; I don’t need to know. It’s not my business.”

“No, it’s okay. I would wonder too.” Kara got up and locked the door. “Do you want to see it?”

“Yes. But just like, for science. Not because I’m interested.”

“I know that, dummy. I wouldn’t show you if I thought you were into it.”

“Okay then. Just so we’re not being weird.”

Kara sat on the edge of the bed, took a deep breath and unbuttoned her pants and slid them and her underwear down to her knees. She pulled her penis out from where she had tucked it between her legs and held it in her palm for Alex to see. It was almost four inches long now flaccid, and fit across the palm of her hand. It wasn’t what they had seen in the dirty videos online, but it was big enough.

“Wow. How do you keep that from popping up? I’ve never noticed it.”

“Well it slides all the way back inside me half the time. And when it’s out, I just tuck it down so it doesn’t pop up. It only gets awkward if I think about… sex too much.”

“Wow.” She was quiet a few moments, thinking. “But what about… your vagina? No, I don’t want to see it!” Alex clarified hastily. “I just wonder… I mean sometimes I feel like… I get turned on by the idea of having something inside me.”

“I feel that too, when my… primary system is online. I feel like it would be nice to feel full. The desires sort of exchange places depending on what time of the cycle it is.”

“So you could date boys one month and girls the next.” Alex joked. 

“I’m not promiscuous!” Kara said, hastily pulling her pants up and tucking things back in.

“I know you’re not. I’m just kidding. It’s just a joke about how much bangin’ sex they must have had on Krypton back in the day. Before they became all dignified and ‘religious-ritualed’.”

Kara huffed and went back to reading her magazine. 

“Kara, have you ever masturbated?”

“No!” Kara said, too emphatically. 

“I’m just asking; you could. There’s nothing wrong with it.”

“How could I? You’re always in the room next door!”

“Well, I don’t hear the way you hear. And you could do it in the bathroom. Or in the attic. Or out in the woods.” Alex suggested. 

“I’m not going to start jacking off all over town.”

“It doesn’t have to be jacking off. You could do the ‘primary system.’ Just because one of them hangs out in front doesn’t mean it’s the only thing you should focus on.”

“Shut up, really. Just stop being stupid.” Kara was done talking.

“I’m sorry, Kara. But… you should get to be happy, you know.”

“I just want to be normal.” Kara said, so quietly that Alex could barely hear it. 

She thought her heart would break. Alex went back to reading for a few minutes and then got up to unlock the door and get a drink from the bathroom. 

 

#

 

The idea of causing an orgasm on purpose instead of involuntarily stuck in Kara’s brain though. She did still think about Julia a lot, but she tried not to let that show, because she had sorted out a lot about social relationships and how important Alex’s friends were to her. And now that she had started developing, it became clear that having a real romantic relationship with anyone would be really hard. Her anatomy only appeared like human anatomy half the time, and that would be a real problem. She wondered how Kal-El handled that issue. He was dating Lois Lane, as far as she knew. Wouldn’t Lois know about his dual system if they were intimate?

So maybe, if she was going to be a nun, a celibate, she should get to touch herself at least. She took Alex’s idea of hiding in the attic (the woods would be way too embarrassingly exposed) for alone time and worked out a way to sneak up there. There were two close calls, one with each of her parents where they asked why she was up there and she didn’t answer, but she thought maybe Alex intervened because they left it alone. She had a routine that let her release some of the physical anxiety she felt through the next several years of high school. 

The Danvers sisters blazed through Middle High like twin comets, one of them wildly erratic - Alex - and the other constant and steady. They both did well in classes and graduated at the top of their successive classes, valedictorians one after another. But Alex had some bumps along the way. Her friends became a little wilder; her nose wasn’t always shoved in a book anymore, and she noticed the boys that noticed her. She had some drunken escapades and she had a reputation for being friendly with a succession of boyfriends and wild nights on the beach near their warm California town. 

Kara on the other hand, had more than once been called frigid by the boys in her class. She accepted dates to the dances and the prom, but she wasn’t interested in going out with boys at all, it seemed to them. No one got past first base. 

It did not help that Kara was also the one who dragged Alex away from parties when she had too much to drink and said rude things to Alex’s friends about their lack of responsibility. She had an uncanny knack for knowing when Alex was up to something she shouldn’t be and getting in the way, much to the frustration of Alex’s would-be suitors. Strangely, George Watkins was the one who texted Kara to tell her when parties got a bit too wild. His way, she thought, of making up for teasing her when she first came here. 

 

#

 

Even though Kara was a model of Good Teenage Behavior, Alex was aware that Kara did have a love life, or something like it. One night when she was making her way home from a more sedate beach bonfire on a Friday evening, Alex took the scenic route home, hiking up through the tree line above the beach and along the road where people parked in the dark to look out over the beach in one direction and the Midvale town lights in the other. And to do other things, usually involving a lack of clothing.

And that’s where she caught her preppy, buttoned-up little sister completely unbuttoned, seriously undressed, sweating and groaning in the back seat of a completely busted old convertible, on top of skater punk, weed freak, social misfit Quinn James. Quinn was as undressed as Kara was. Her jet black hair was a rats nest as Kara had a handful of it locked in one of her fists and her other hand completely out of sight between the two of them. Quinn’s hands were both visible, clutching to Kara’s shoulders as though she were on an amusement park ride, terrified of being flung off. Judging by the sounds, they were having some form of actual sex, and from what she could tell, Kara was the one delivering what Quinn was receiving. Alex was so shocked she couldn’t move, as much by the scene as by the filthy words streaming from Kara’s mouth and Quinn’s responses of abject submission. Once Quinn starting having an obvious orgasm, Alex managed to unfreeze herself and she beat a hasty retreat; but not before Quinn locked eyes with her as she moved quickly away down the road. She’d only been there less than a minute but it seemed like the event had gone on forever, and it was seared into her brain.

Quinn must have told Kara she saw her, because Kara stopped by her room and turned on the light when she came home. She could tell by Kara’s expression.

“Alex.”

“That was really unexpected.” Alex sat up.

“I know it must seem weird. But… We seem to connect.”

“I’ll say!”

“Don’t be gross.”

“Me? Kara, you were saying filthy things to her.”

“You weren’t supposed to be there!” Kara couldn’t meet her eyes. She sat on the bed in her long-ago posture of ramrod straight back and tension everywhere, looking like the little girl who couldn’t control the world as it raged around her.

“I’m sorry! I left as soon as I could. I didn’t expect that, I guess. Is she good to you?” Alex asked.

“Yes. She’s sweet. And wonderful.” That did not sound like an accurate description of Quinn James or any of her perpetually-in-detention, bird-flipping, skater-weed friends, but if Kara said it, it must be true.

“Okay. When did this start?”

“Last year in July.” Kara said.

“Jesus. You’ve been seeing her for like, 10 months?” Kara nodded. “Wow.” Alex sat up to process. That was a lot of sneaking around. “Are you doing it? Like, penis-in-vagina stuff?”

“No!” Kara said, hotly. “Quinn doesn’t even know about my penis.”

“She doesn’t? Wow. How do you get around the cycles of… you know?” Alex asked.

“Well, I sort of… control what we do, and when. So when I’m not secondary-dormant, she doesn’t get to… touch me.” Kara explained

“Wow. She’s okay with that?”

Kara shook her head. “She lets me do whatever I want.”

“Are you worried about telling her? You don’t want her to know?”

“No. It’s too weird. I don’t want her to know.”

“Well, she likes weird. She would probably be okay with it.”

“No! I’m not telling her.”

The idea of Kara controlling the brash girl was so unlike what she knew of her sister. But what she saw earlier… “Okay. As long as she’s happy. And you’re happy. She is, right?” 

“I try to make her as happy as I can. She tells me she is.”

“So it works.”

“Mostly. The non-dormant parts are really h- difficult.” Kara cut off what she knew Alex would make into a pun. “If we fool around then, it drives me bonkers and I can’t think at all. The thing has a mind of its own.” Kara waved her hand vaguely over her pants.

“Well, be nice to her. I’m mean when you’re not saying dirty stuff, you weirdo.”

“She likes that, so…”

“I need to stop this conversation now and maybe bleach my brain.”

“Yeah, well, me too.”

Quinn and her friends were from a completely different social stratosphere than Alex and Kara, and that’s why it worked; no one would believe it. But it continued for the rest of high school, as far as Alex could tell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the point of view switches in this chapter. Couldn't figure out how to keep it all in one character. And I'm retconning some of Alex's coming out because she obviously doesn't have a problem with who Kara dates.


	10. Czarnian Flu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They finally kiss.

“Hello, Dr. Danvers. Yes, we’re on the plane to Metropolis. It’s okay; I have clearance from the pilot to answer my cell phone. Yes, Kara is right here. She is looking after me. Do you want to talk to her? Okay, I’ll tell her to call when we land. Okay, I’m ready to hear it. Flu? Okay. I hope it’s not contagious… you don’t think so? Well, that’s good. I did check in with all the staff who worked on the portal, and none of them have a fever or odd dreams or sleep patterns. Is there something I should do? Fluids and sleep. I can do that. I promise I won’t overdo it with work. Yes, ma’am. Yes, ma’am. Yes, I will. I’ll tell her.”

Lena hung up, and turned to Kara. “That was your mom. She said hi.”

“I gathered. I’ll call her after we land. Was it good news?” Kara asked.

“She seems to think whatever I have is not contagious to other humans. And not to you, either. It looks like some sort of flu virus she’s never seen. But she said it’s not very active. I’m not sure I understood all the medical explanation she gave.”

“Really? I thought you knew all of the science.” Kara teased.

“Shush, you. I know a lot of the science. Just not all of the biology.” Lena said.

“But I did hear ‘fluids’ and ‘sleep.’ And ‘no late nights.’ I recognize that Doctor talk.” Kara said.

“Yes, well. I’ll do my best. This is a big trip for me, though.”

“I can see. I’ve been reading your project plan.” Kara said.

“Do you like it?” Lena asked.

“I do. It’s smart, and groundbreaking, and humanitarian. I think it’s wonderful.” Kara said. 

“Thank you. I wanted to do something like it for a long time, and now I have the means and opportunity. I’m really excited.”

The factories that Lena was purchasing from Eagle Magnetics Consolidated not only did very sophisticated fabrication, but also innovative 3-D printing in many types of materials. 

They would allow Lena to manufacture a wide variety of medical devices in unique new design patents at a fraction of current costs, which meant she could provide them inexpensively to humanitarian relief efforts around the globe. It would improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. This actually was a big story, and Kara felt less guilty about pulling her Cat Grant connection with Snapper. Kara had whipped up a short summary of it for Snapper and sent it. He send back one line. “I’m not as bored as I was before.”

Lena’s plan was smart, and groundbreaking, and humanitarian. And so incredibly sexy in its sheer kindness and empathy. And being around Lena constantly was starting to really get to Kara. She couldn’t stop thinking about her legs, and her hair… and other things. Kara really needed some alone time.

While the project itself was exciting, sitting in on the first day’s meetings was very boring. They had gone directly to the Eagle Magnetics offices in Midtown and Lena gave a presentation to the Eagle Magnetics board of directors, before starting a series of meetings. There was a lot of legalese in the contract terms of sale, and there were also a lot of financial details that Kara wasn’t able to follow and wasn’t all that interested in. Lena had brought L-Corp lawyers and accountants, and the DEO guards were passed off as Lena’s staff members. They didn’t attract any suspicion from Eagle Magnetics. Kara was introduced to the CEO of that company as a reporter following Lena for a profile, and he didn’t seem to think it was odd.

They were scheduled to be in town for a week and a half, but the purchase should only take four days. The rest of the time Lena would spend in the Metropolis L-Corp offices visiting with her teams and finalizing the patent applications.

At the end of the first day, they got to the Metropolis Grand Hotel so late that Lena only had time to order and eat room service before putting on pajamas and falling into bed. Kara was staying in Lena’s suite, so in theory she had her own little bedroom off the larger suite. But it was clear that Lena didn't expect her to use it, as she pulled Kara into bed with her to watch television before Lena fell asleep. Kara clicked off the half-watched program and dimmed the lights so Lena wouldn’t wake up. As far as she could tell before she fell asleep herself, Lena was having a completely dream-free rest.

 

#

 

"You're seeing what I saw, aren't you? I can tell." Eliza said, coming into the DEO lab room. Eliza had been staying at Kara's apartment while Alex looked over the results of her blood work from Lena Luthor, but she came in to the office when Alex called.

"The flu virus was bonded to some other DNA strand. When it's separated, it dies in Lena's bloodstream. But then the other DNA attacks her blood cells. As long as they're together; they are stable and inert, except for a mild infection. This was manufactured. She didn't contract this by accident." Alex said.

"It couldn’t have come through the portal. Her other employees gave blood samples, and L-Corp doctors aren't seeing the same thing. This was from when she was captive on the Daxamite ship. And it was deliberate. It's something Mon-El's mother did to her."

"But what is it supposed to do?" Alex said.

"I don't know. She was trying to make them marry, so she didn't want to kill Lena, as far as we know. So what was did she want?"

"A daughter-in-law, presumably. How does this help that?"

 

# 

 

The second day was when Lena’s project started to fall apart. Details that Lena had carefully negotiated were called into question by Eagle Magnetics lawyers, and the accountants started questioning numbers. It was clear they had an idea of what Lena wanted to do with her new factories, and they wanted their cut, even though Lena’s original offers were more than generous to them. But eating into the project budget that far would make Lena’s plans to produce equipment at cost for humanitarian aid out of reach. Kara could tell Lena was frustrated by her posture, but it never showed for a second on her face. Lena was bright and cheery and optimistic even as she had to disagree with people at the table, and coax them to do what she wanted. Lena and her staff ended up taking some of the executives out to dinner at one of the more expensive restaurants in the city, but the evening still ended early. They weren’t ready to be wined and dined yet.

Lena was still frustrated when they got back to the hotel room, and she’d had enough wine to not hold back. She took off her heels as soon as she got in the door and flung them across the room onto the heavy carpet. Kara held back a chuckle.

“I’m sorry. I just had to throw something, and that was the least dangerous thing I could think of to fling across the room.” Lena said.

“Want to go for a flight?” Kara asked. “That always helps me get rid of my frustration.”

“Yes. Yes, I do.”

“Change into something comfortable.” Kara said.

Kara emerged a few seconds later wearing black jeans and a black hoodie, her hair carefully pulled up inside, and waited for Lena to reappear in jeans and a sweater.

“You’re not going to wear your suit?” Lena asked.

“This is what I wear when I don’t want people to notice me.” Kara said. “Ready?”

Lena nodded and Kara lead her to the balcony, where she wrapped her arms around Lena and took off. Kara had flown around Metropolis a few times with Clark, so she was familiar with the city’s grid, and how to get around without getting lost. She also knew which rooftops had pretty views, and two of the best were the twin towers of L-Corp. 

“I’m sure you’ve been up here, though.” Kara said, landing on the south tower and setting Lena on her feet. Lena stayed in her arms though.

“I haven’t, actually. I’ve always been afraid of heights.”

“Lena! Why didn’t tell me that? I wouldn’t have dragged you out here.”

“It’s fine. I’m not afraid if you’re holding me. And this is a beautiful view.” Lena put her head on Kara’s shoulder and the two of them stood wrapped up in each others’ arms, enjoying the lights. The night was quiet until Kara heard the distinctive flap of a cape in the distance.

“Superman is nearby.” Kara said lowly into Lena’s ear. He landed next to them a minute later.

“Is everything okay here?” He asked in his official voice, before Kara pulled off her hood so he could see her. It was too late to pretend she hadn’t been cuddling with Lena Luthor, so Kara didn’t bother to move away from her.

“Cousin! I’m sorry. I should have guessed you might be out and about.” Superman said. “And Lena. It’s good to see you again.”

“Superman. Do you drop by L-Corp a lot?” Lena asked.

“Well, it is a pretty view from here.” Superman grinned at her. “Also this is the place where your brother pushed Lois off the roof, so… memories.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.” Lena was dismayed.

“It’s okay; I caught her, so it all came out fine.” He was grinning at Lena, so he obviously was teasing her.

“Kara caught me when my mother had me thrown off the roof, so I appreciate the Kryptonian reflexes.” Lena said.

“You’d think none of us would hang out on L-Corp roofs.” Superman observed. “You two are coming to dinner later this week, right? Lois said she invited you. I think she’s making lasagna.”

“YES. Yes, we’ll be there.” Kara said. Lois’ lasagna was one of her favorites.

“Good. We’re looking forward to it. I should take off. Have a pleasant night.” He gave them a little wave and shot across the sky.

The two of them stood for a long time listening to the night.

“Kara Zor-El.”

“Yes?” Kara looked at Lena, but she knew exactly what Lena wanted.

“I can’t… I have to…” Lena broke off, unable to finish her thought. And then she kissed Kara. When they finally broke away for a moment, Lena said, “I need you to…” but she didn’t finish that thought either. Kara pulled her tight and kissed her hard. Lena’s mouth yielded to Kara’s tongue, and Lena melted against her. Lena just wanted to be kissed like this, forever if she could. But Kara’s deft hands were moving over her body; one on her ass, another moving towards her breast - and Lena’s body was on fire. If she didn’t redirect this soon, she might end up naked on the top of her own skyscraper, and that would make an embarrassing story on Chopper 8 Evening News.

“Kara, take me back to the hotel.” Lena said, before Kara’s hands could travel further.

 

#

 

Kara had Lena half undressed, pressed down on the bed, when the alarm beacon sounded. “God damn it.” Kara said. Lobo had shown up on Earth.

 

#

 

“NO. No, this was not the deal I agreed to. I was supposed to kidnap a girl and get a ring. At the most, I’d have to fight the girl Kryptonian. But not Superman. And not two of you. This contract is void.” 

Lobo hovered in the air above the Metropolis alley outside the Metropolis Grand. But Lena was well protected not just by Superman and Supergirl, but by several DEO agents, and Winn, with his portable energy cannon. They had had twenty minutes to assemble in Superman’s planned formation since Lobo had entered the earth’s atmosphere. More than enough time to make sure they had more firepower. And two Kryptonians, one of them very cranky.

 

“I thought you never went back on a contract, Lobo.” Superman said.

“These were not the terms. I was just supposed to bring the girl. It was supposed to be easy. A pink ring is not worth this.”

At that moment, Winn got too excited and fired his energy cannon at Lobo, knocking him off Spacehogg and onto the alleyway near the rest of them.

“Hey. That was not called for. I was cancelling the contract already.” Lobo yelled. He tried to get up but couldn’t, so he dragged himself with his elbows.

“Contract or not, I told you never to come to Earth again. Did you forget that rule, Lobo? Never mess with humans? Kidnapping a girl from Earth breaks that rule.” Superman said.

“He said you wouldn’t care about the Luthor woman. And that your cousin would follow me. That was the plan.” Lobo said.

“I do care about the Luthor woman. And I’ve got news for you. My cousin is actually stronger than I am. She cleaned my clock a few weeks ago. So having her as an enemy is worse than me.”

“Really? That bastich. I…” Lobo caught sight of Lena and sat up. “What is wrong with her?” He sniffed the air in her direction. “She’s sick. Get me away from her.” Lobo started dragging himself across the ground away from Lena.

“What are you talking about?” Kara asked, putting herself between Lobo and Lena again.

“She’s got Czarnian Flu! How the hell? _That bastich_. He set me up!” Lobo screamed.

“Who set you up?” Superman said.

“Brainiac! He’s the one I made the contract with. He said he was working for someone who wanted Supergirl. But if that one has Czarnian Flu then he must have been trying to kill me.”

“How do you know that’s what she has?” Kara demanded.

“She smells like it! Can’t you smell her? It’s horrible. But no, your sense of smell is in the wrong range. Just trust me. I need to get out of here. How would a human catch that, anyway? It should have disappeared with the rest of my people. What happened to you, lady?”

“I wish I knew.” Lena said.

Lobo signaled his motorcycle and it landed near him, and he tried to drag himself on.

“How do we get rid of it? This flu she has?” Kara asked.

“You can’t. There’s no cure. Either she dies, or it goes away eventually.” Lobo said.

“How long before it goes away?” Superman said.

“Not long. Sixty or seventy years. Look, can I go without you zapping me, Superman? I gotta kick Brainiac’s ass.”

“Who hired Brainiac?”

“He never said. I didn’t ask. I would tell you, I promise.”

“Well, don’t come back here. If you do, we’ll stick you in an enclosed space with Lena.” Superman said.

“Neither of us want that.” Lena said dryly.

“Yeah, you said it.” Lobo gunned his engine and sped off into space.

 

“Well, that was really anti-climatic.” Kara said. Superman and Lena both looked at her incredulously. “What? I was hoping I’d get to punch him at least. He just jabbered the whole time.” Kara grumbled.

“I shot him with my energy cannon!” Winn said. Kara frowned at him. “What? I did. I got him good, too. I did the action thing…” Winn mimicked punching the air.

“Brainiac is trying to get to Kara through you, Lena, for his own means or someone else’s. He’s probably not going to stop. Kara and I may need to take the fight to him.” Superman said. “Maybe we should have teamed up with Lobo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What a rude interruption that was.


	11. The Centre Cannot Hold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All of Lena's plans for her new factories and new products fall apart.

“I’m a lot more concerned about Lena dying from some sort of Lobo-Flu right now.” Kara said to Superman. “We’ll deal with Brainiac later.”

“Yes. I’m sorry Lena.” Superman said. “I’ll get ahold of Kelex and see if there is anything in the Kryptonian files my parents left me. Kara, maybe your mother had something in her database? And we can talk to some of my alien contacts. Maybe they know more about what Lobo was talking about.” 

“Well, I feel fine right now, except I really need to get some sleep for my meetings tomorrow. Which is my priority. My God, it’s 3:30am. Although after today, I’m beginning to wonder if I can actually get what I want to do done.” Lena said. She was tired and as cranky as Kara was. She stomped off to the hotel entrance and the DEO agents raced after her. Winn also beat a retreat.

Leaving Kara alone with Superman.

“So. Lena. Lois was trying to tell me about you two, but I couldn’t wrap my brain around it. But now I see.” Superman said, bumping his cousin’s arm.

“It’s new, so… I don’t know what’s happening yet.” Kara said.

“Well, she already knows you’re an alien, so that’s good. Maybe she won’t be all that surprised.”

“We aren’t anywhere close to that conversation.” Kara said. “I should go make sure she’s okay. She’s acting like what Lobo said didn’t mess with her, but…”

“Yes. Go take care of your girl. And tell her I’ll always be there to help, if she needs me. I’ll see you later. And I’ll let you know my ideas about Brainiac, too. If you want to do something, I can help plan.” Superman said. He nodded, then took off toward mid-town.

 

#

 

Kara was helping Lena get out of her clothes in the hotel room, but this time not in the fun way. Lena was obviously tired and needed sleep after the activity in the alley. Unhooking the back of her dress was outside of her abilities.

“So the dream actually came about, but not quite in the way that I saw it in the dream. Which means what? I am dreaming of the future, but I can change what will happen, maybe?” Lena said, shuddered.

"Or you're just dreaming about Lobo because you have the flu from his people's planet. Maybe however you got the flu and whoever hired him are connected. I don't know. I guess we have to find out if any of these other dreams come true." Kara said. “But I’m more concerned about your health and safety than the dreams at this point. I’m going to text Alex and see if she can talk to my mother’s Krypton database.”

Exhausted, Lena crawled into bed, and Kara climbed in after her and wrapped her arms around her. “Is this okay? Can I hold you?” Lena nodded.

“Are you wearing pajamas with pancakes on them?” Lena pulled on Kara’s pajama sleeve to look at it.

“Well, also french toast. And bacon and sausages.” Kara pointed out.

“How delightful.”

“I like them.”

“Mmmhm.” Lena said with her eyes closed.

“I like you, too.”

“As much as breakfast food?” Lena opened her eyes to see Kara’s answer.

“Yes. More than french toast and sausages. And more than pancakes. Even with syrup on top.”

“Please tell me you’re not picturing eating those things off of me.”

“Noooooo. Of course not.” Kara said, in a way that made Lena sure she had been. Somehow, it didn’t bother her in the slightest.

 

#

 

Lena wasn’t sure if the executives from Eagle Magnetics had heard about the late night confrontation in the alley outside the hotel, or if they were just taking pity on her because she was obviously tired, but they were very kind the next day in their meetings. They were still denying her the original contract offers and insisting they needed money in residuals after she got the factory up and running, but they were nice about it. 

There was just no way that Lena could make this work. She was already investing a huge chunk of her own money. From a business standpoint she was making a bad investment anyway; this was a venture that would only reap rewards for others, not for L-Corp. None of Eagle’s negotiated proposals would work. Their tactic of agreeing to terms to get her to the table and then reneging on them wasn’t going to pan out for them.

Lena stood in the middle of one of their VP’s power point presentations, and sighed. The room went quiet. “I’m sorry, ladies and gentlemen. This really won’t work. I’m going to have to decline your business and find a different factory solution for my project. It was a pleasure meeting all of you, and I very much appreciate your hospitality. It’s been a very nice few days speaking to you. I hope some day we can do business together. You have some fantastic facilities. I wish you good fortune.”

Kara was as surprised as the Eagle Magnetics board was. She had to grab her paperwork and laptop and shove it all into her bag to hurry out after Lena.

 

#

 

They were back at the Metropolis Grand in the suite in the middle of the afternoon, suddenly with no plans. Lena paced, and Kara spread her work out at the desk. The deal that fell apart would be as big a story as one that succeeded, unfortunately. Snapper would eat it up with a spoon. But she didn’t want to hurt Lena by writing it. She was clearly devastated it had fallen apart.

Kara picked up the glossy brochure of one of the two factories Eagle Magnetics had been trying to sell and flipped through it. Maybe it was because it was part of a brochure, but the factory was clean, bright, and shiny in a way that she had never seen as Supergirl going into a factory. Or maybe that was just the kind of factory she got called to all the time.

“These photos are very fancy for a factory. It looks like you could eat off the floor.” Kara observed.

“Where did you get that?” Lena asked, sitting down next to her.

“That VP gave it to me. I think he had a thing for me. He suggested I do a profile on him next.”

“That’s funny. I’ve only seen the schematics and tech details for them. I haven’t seen pictures.”

“You never visited? They’re right there in National City.”

“Nope. Wasn’t allowed until we had set terms for the deal. Lots of proprietary stuff they have in there. I wasn’t allowed to see it until we had contracts in place. Just the technical plans and blueprints.”

“Well here are some pictures.” Kara handed the brochure to her. 

Lena flipped through a few pages and stopped. 

“Oh, my God.” She said. Those tanks. And the corridor and the railings. And the grate where her heel got caught. This was the factory in her dream. 

“What? What, Lena?”

“This is the factory from my dream. The one that explodes with both of us inside it.” Kara took the brochure back and thumbed through it again.

“God. You dodged that bullet.” Kara said.

Lena couldn’t do anything but laugh, so she did. Kara looked concerned at how hysterical she seemed, so she stopped after a moment. “I should have known everything I touch would fall apart.” Lena said.

“That isn’t true. This is a beautiful idea. It’s just tough to execute. It can happen. Just because you’re running into brick walls now doesn’t mean you will forever. And when you win it will be that much more satisfying because of what you overcame.” Kara said.

Lena was not used to people talking to her that way; looking for the positive in every scenario, no matter how bleak. It was intoxicating.

“Thank you. I needed to hear that.” Lena said.

“I know. We all need to hear that once in a while. It’s a good thing it’s true.” Kara said. “I don’t mean to interrupt us, but I should really call Alex because of the time zones. I want to know if she’s learned anything.”

 

References to Czarnian Flu - originally named Velorpian Flu after the geographic region of the planet where it first spread - were few, and very speculative according to Alura’s AI device. Some reports suggested that off-worlders were affected by it in different ways than the Czarnians, but no details about how were recorded. It seemed the virus acted like a minor parasite to much of the Czarnian race rather than a deadly strain. Some Czarnians died, and some were just infected for years. Most Czarnian history was lost, so there was no way of finding out more.

Kara was more disturbed to find that Lena had been deliberately infected by a designer version of the virus. One intended, it seemed, to just hang around in her system. She relayed all that to Lena from Alex, but Lena’s reaction was one of resignation. She went to bed and took a nap for the rest of the afternoon.

When she did wake up hours later, she was revived. “I could eat a horse.” Lena declared.

“I know the best Thai place in town, and they are never busy. But I have to go as Supergirl, because they know me that way.”

“Up, up and away, Supergirl.” Lena said.

 

#

 

Post dinner, Lena was definitely feeling better. Enough to trying making out with Supergirl in mid-air.

“I’m going to fly into something if you don’t stop distracting me.” Kara warned.

“Sure,” Lena said, running her thumb over Kara’s nipple. Kara then held both Lena’s wrists in an iron grip until they got back to the hotel balcony.

“Just this one time… could you wear the suit?” Lena asked. She was a little afraid Kara would think she had a fetish, or that she would be offended, but Kara grinned and raised her eyebrows. 

Kara pulled Lena into her arms, and the texture of the suit under her fingertips, the way Kara smelled, and the breath on her neck… the lips on her neck, and Kara was kissing her up her neck, behind her ear, and Lena was suddenly very, very wet.

“I can smell you.” Supergirl said into her ear. “You’re wet for me.”

“I am. I can’t help it.” Lena said, barely able to get the words out as Kara continued to kiss down her throat to her collarbone. Kara tore open Lena’s blouse and continued kissing down.

Kara seized Lena by the waist, carrying her backward to the couch, where she laid her down and then fell on top of her, hands going immediately to her breasts. Lena heard fabric tearing and realized that Kara had torn through the thick fabric of her bra, leaving her breasts exposed for Kara’s hands and lips to fall on. Lena wrapped her arms around Kara’s shoulders and felt the weight of the woman against her and every memory of the dream came flooding back, as wet lips moved across her right nipple and gentle fingers tugged on her left.

Then Kara’s lips found hers and they kissed. Kara stopped to look at her for a moment, and Lena got lost in her blue eyes and the feeling of her weight pressing Lena down against the couch.

“Kara.” She said, leaning forward to kiss her again, hard. She opened her mouth against Kara’s, inviting her tongue, and felt Kara take over, pushing her head back against the pillows, her tongue entering Lena’s mouth, taking her over in a kiss that seemed to last forever, but wasn’t long enough.

Kara’s warm hands and mouth moved over her and Lena arched her back into the touch until she couldn’t stand it, but even then she wouldn’t beg. She needed Kara between her legs, but she wasn’t going to beg, because she was already in danger of submitting to everything Kara wanted. The sensation from her dream, the bizarre feeling of letting Kara ejaculate in her, crossed her mind, and she knew letting her lose herself in Kara’s desires without question, even if Kara couldn’t really do what her dream state suggested, might be a mistake.

But then Kara moved their intimacy forward again and Lena was powerless under her hands. Kara reached under her skirt and ripped her underwear completely away from her. She was going to have to talk to Kara about tearing her clothes when she could just as easily slip them off, but the warm fingers running through the arousal between her legs made her forget completely. Lena heard herself moan out loud at the movement between her lower lips, and felt a low growl from Kara against her neck. “You smell so good.” Kara said, and Lena knew she meant the wet between her legs, and the desire in her groin spiked.

Supergirl’s left arm slid under her buttocks and she lifted Lena and stood up, holding Lena in the air with her left arm as her right hand still explored under Lena’s now crumpled skirt. Lena felt two and then three fingers at her entrance and then Kara slid into her at the same time she lowered Lena onto her fingers, and she began a rhythm of that same motion, lifting Lena off of then lowering her onto her right hand. Lena clung to Kara’s shoulders as Kara continued her display of strength and dexterity. Lena closed her eyes and concentrated on the fullness of Kara’s fingers, her strong fingertips rough against her insides, seeking out her pleasure.

Kara continued lifting her up and lowering her back and when Lena opened her eyes for a moment she realized that she wasn’t the only one in the air; they were both floating several feet off the ground in the middle of the hotel suite as Kara fucked her, thoroughly. She trembled with delight and came hard on Kara’s hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited - change of plans on the backstory. We're just going to move ahead.


	12. Unconscious Elements Within Consciousness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena and Kara have time to think, and maybe Lena will buy some factories after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a bit of Kara thinking about Mon-El in the chapter. Sorry about that.

Lena woke up nude with a warm body wrapped around her, and she had to figure out where she was. This wasn’t a dream; she was awake. She hadn’t had any dreams last night that she could recall. And the person with the iron grip around her body and one hand holding her breast was clearly Kara. Judging by the feeling of the synthetic fabric against her back, the leg wedged between hers, and the soft cape cascading over the two of them, Kara was still fully dressed. Despite the very thorough job Kara did fucking her last night, Lena never managed to talk Kara out of the suit. Lena needed to visit the restroom, but first she had to figure out how to get out from under Supergirl.

When Lena shifted, Kara clutched her closer. “No. Keeping you safe.” She said, tightening her grip on Lena’s breast. Kara wasn’t even awake and she was that single-minded.

“Kara, I need to use the restroom. You need to get off me.” Lena said. Kara just moaned and buried her face in Lena’s hair.

“Hey. Let go, girl of steel. I need to get up.” Lena shoved a not at all gentle elbow into Kara’s side. It’s not like it would hurt her. The jab made Kara let go and wake up at least a little.

“You’re coming back here, right?” Kara asked sleepily.

“No. I thought I’d go streaking all over Metropolis today, since I have nothing on my agenda.” Lena said.

“Okay. But I’m allowed to write about it if you do go outside naked, right? Because Snapper would kill me if I didn’t get that exclusive.”

“I’m not sure how you could do that story without explaining you were the reason I was naked in the first place. I really need to use the restroom.” 

Lena left as much to take care of that issue as to get away from the adorableness of a sleepy, tousled-hair Supergirl splayed out across her bed. Apparently it didn’t matter how many orgasms Kara had given her the night before. Her arousal around Kara was still easy to awaken. And last night Kara had admitted her powers allowed her to tell every time, and had pointed out exactly which times she knew Lena had been turned on while pretending she wasn’t.

Lena got in the shower and immediately started worrying. They hadn’t done anything to exchange bodily fluids. Other than kissing, Lena had stopped anything happening between her and Kara that would have allowed that. She was still worried about passing on her illness, even if the scientists didn’t think it was likely. But she had still let the level of intimacy between the two of them go very, very far. They hadn’t yet figured out what they were to each other yet, and they had already… Lena closed her eyes and let the water fall over her face while she retraced all the ways that she had let Supergirl touch her. 

After too long, she got out of the shower and found her silk robe. It was almost 10:00am. She realized Jess might be checking in and decided to locate her phone, which she had abandoned last night in the living area of the suite. It had about 2% charge. Then she had to locate the charger and plug it in for a few minutes to discover a half dozen messages from Jess, and emails from the board members of Eagle Magnetics. They had spent the evening rethinking their proposals, and hoped she would hear their new ideas. Apparently they were very interested in getting rid of their factories now that Lena had a good reason not to want them. 

At the very least, she could hear what they had to say. But first she needed to wake and feed her superhero, and consult with her about that factory dream.

“Kara, are you awake? I need to talk some things through with you. I have an idea.”

 

#

 

When they got into the board room with the Eagle executives, Lena didn’t bother to sit. She waited for everyone to settle in before she took over. 

“If this is going to work at all, I want the original terms we had negotiated before I came here. I know I suggested I would be willing to compromise, but circumstances have changed, and I have other options now. So I’d like to return to these numbers.” Lena said. She passed the sheet with the calculations to the board.

“And I’d like to add an additional term. Before we finalize the paperwork, I want to go over the factories with a team of inspectors of my choosing. And I want the option of stepping out and cancelling if I see anything at either facility that I don’t like. I wasn’t planning on returning today except as a courtesy. If you’re willing to agree to this offer - which I really think is more than fair - we can do business. Otherwise I’d be happy to go with one of my other options.” Lena finished and sat down. 

The CEO of Eagle Magnetics stood. “Ms. Luthor, we’re grateful you decided to come back and talk to us. I understand your position. If you wouldn’t mind, could I confer with my board and give you an answer in a few hours? I can call you or text if that would be convenient for you.”

“That sounds perfect, Mr. Murphy. I hope to hear from you soon.”

Lena shook his hand, and she led Kara and her team of people out.

 

#

 

“Remember we’re supposed to have dinner with Clark and Lois tonight.” Kara said from outside the dressing room door. Lena was trying on a dress at a boutique named Missoni on the very fancy shopping street in Metropolis. Lena seemed amused earlier when Kara showed her the prices, and pointed out the tag on a bra identical to the one Kara had torn in half the night before. 

“Oh. I see. Wow.” Kara very carefully refused to touch anything else in the store and stood patiently in the waiting area while Lena tried things on. Lena opened the door. “What do you think of this?” Lena asked.

She was stunning. The dress showed off every curve and was brighter than what Lena usually wore, but the green was a gorgeous color that complemented her hair and mirrored the color of her eyes. 

“Wow. That’s really fancy. Where are you going to wear it?” Kara asked.

“Oh, we’re going to the Opera while we’re here. We’re shopping for you next. I have something in mind for you at Burberry, and if it doesn’t work we’ll go to Armani.” Lena said.

Kara panicked. “Lena, I can’t really… I can’t afford clothes like this.”

“I know, and I respect that. I can though. I know that can cause problems when people are dating… but I’ll restrain myself to just buying you a few presents here and there, okay?”

“Are we dating, Lena?”

“I hope so. I wanted to talk to you about that. I’d like to date you, if you are comfortable with that. I don’t normally… do the sorts of things we did last night with someone unless I want to see them exclusively.”

Good. Lena wanted to date her, and only her. Kara was relieved.

“I would like that.” Kara agreed. Still, she felt a slight twinge of guilt about Mon-El and how quickly she had moved on, which Lena picked up on.

“You’re thinking of Mon-El, aren’t you?” Lena said. “Do you think he’d be upset?”

“He did tend to be jealous. And this has happened pretty quickly. I don’t know.”

“Maybe we should slow down the intimacy a little?” Lena said. “Obviously I’m attracted to you, but we did just race ahead quickly.”

“Maybe. Lets talk about this more when we’re not in a dressing room. When we’re curled up together on a couch, okay?” Kara asked. 

“Yes. But you like this dress? I should get it?” Lena asked.

“Oh, yes.”

 

#

 

Lena insisted they go to Burberry where she bought Kara a cream colored dress that looked amazing made her feel like a real grown-up. Lena wouldn’t let her look at the price tag for it or the shoes that she bought to match. Lena insisted on visiting the Armani store also, where they had private VIP dressing rooms and Lena made her try on a crazy number of outfits, some dresses and some stylish trousers and blouses. Kara was starting think dressing her up might be a little bit of a fetish for Lena. She didn’t even get a change to weight in with her opinions in this store - Lena gave her a wicked little smile and conferred with the personal shopper, who had several things wrapped up and ready for them when Kara had gotten dressed in her own clothes again.

“I feel like you just used me as your personal dress-up doll.” Kara said when they were back in the car.

“Oh, I sure did. It was fun.” Lena said.

“Was it a turn-on for you? Is this like, a sex thing?” Kara asked.

“You can’t tell?” Lena teased. She could tell. Lena enjoyed looking at her. “Do you mind, though? It was fun. And I promise; I won’t do that all the time. I don’t want there to be a huge issue between us about money.”

“No, I don’t mind. It felt a little decadent trying on all the fancy clothes. Like I was doing something a little bit illicit.” Kara said.

Lena’s phone rang. “It’s the Eagle Magnetics CEO. I should take this.” Lena said.

While she answered and held a low conversation, Kara contemplated Mon-El. They had fought constantly. She had never really been sure that his motives were completely pure, and not based on him pleasing her. His sense of humor was rude and not the same as hers. And she never quite believed he respected humans the way that she did.

But where they did work… she had really loved putting her penis in his vagina. So much; and he had loved that too. Sometimes they fooled around all day. Before him, she had never had a lover even know her penis existed, let alone touch it, but Mon-El was not only not freaked out, it was normal to him. He had dated Daxamite girls with anatomy like her, and apparently Daxamite girls didn’t all have dormant secondary systems like they didn’t on Krypton. 

His fellatio was on point, but he had never actually asked her to go down on him; he said it wasn’t his favorite thing. The two of them had a solidarity about their anatomy; he understood Kara’s enormous anxiety about being different. She could talk to him and he not only understood, but told her that she was normal, and that people should accept her. 

Was it even possible she could have that sort of easy intimacy with Lena? It seemed like Lena might be freaking out at how far they had taken things; how far Kara had pushed them. Lena had consented; Kara had asked about everything they did. But she seemed a little afraid of how quickly they had escalated now, and Kara had to admit that she had made a lot of the choices last night, even if Lena agreed to them. Kara had wanted to touch every inch of Lena's body, and she nearly accomplished that. Kara needed to tell her the whole story before they got that close again. Lena deserved all the information so she could decide.

Lena finished up her phone call and hung up. “They accepted my terms. Apparently I’m buying a couple of potentially lethal exploding factories that may or may not contain some horrific plan my mother is cooking up.”

“Great. I’m sure this will all go well and nothing terrible will happen.” Kara said.


	13. Dinner with Clark Kent and Lois Lane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Of course Clark and Lois have lots of well-meaning advice for the young couple.

Lena changed clothes three times before she settled on what she wanted to wear to dinner with Clark Kent and Lois Lane. Kara wasn’t supposed to be watching from the other bedroom in the hotel suite, using x-ray vision while Lena had her apparel crisis in the master bedroom. But it was way too cute to see Lena, who always had perfect confidence in her wardrobe, have a major freakout. And over her cousin, no less. The man who occasionally dressed like Paul Bunyan without a shred of self-awareness about looking like a lumberjack in the middle of the largest city in the world. Or maybe Lena was worried about how she looked in front of Lois. But if Lois didn’t judge Kara’s fashion sense, she certainly wasn’t going to throw shade at Lena.

Kara may also have been watching illicitly because she was fascinated by Lena’s abs. For a women with some serious curves, Lena had remarkably defined abs. It had surprised Kara the other night when she finally got her clothes off. Kara knew they were supposed to be slowing down, and they needed to talk, but she was going to have just one little fantasy about going down on Lena while she waited. Kara had been dressed for half an hour already. She was ready. She could just slide her hands into her pants and…

Lena bent over the bed to do something with the dress she picked out, and Kara groaned as her fingers found her own clit. She could imagine herself pushing aside Lena’s underwear and pushing between her lips with her tongue. She understood why Lena stopped her from oral sex last night, but it didn’t stop Kara fantasizing about going down on her. Kara may have closed her eyes and stopped paying attention to what the real Lena was doing while she fantasized about how the Lena in her head would taste as she plunged her tongue into her. Kara managed to come back to the present moment just before she heard the real Lena call from the other room.

“Kara Danvers! What on earth are you doing?” 

“I’m waiting for you to get ready.” She had managed to extricate her hand and zip up at super speed. So she was on her feet when Lena came around the corner into her smaller room. Lena had settled on a beautiful pale blue dress and gold earrings. Her hair was up in a twist at the back of her neck.

“You look beautiful, Lena.”

“We are late to dinner.” Lena said.

“Okay, I just need to visit the restroom first.” Kara said.

“I’m calling the car.”

Kara thought she had gotten away with it until she heard Lena mutter under her breath. “Leave her alone for two seconds… Hello, Charles? Are you in front?”

 

#

 

“So, won’t your mother clear out of these factories now that you’ve told Eagle Magnetics you intend to inspect them? Provided they are working together somehow.” Lois asked. 

Kara and Lena had arrived in time for dinner, with Clark opening the door for them to come in to the large, neat apartment with enormous windows. Lois was just pulling the pasta dishes and bread from the oven. Salads were served, wine was poured, and they sat at the dining room table and dove into conversation about Lena’s plans.

“I’m not sure. The details of the dream are still hazy to me. I can’t know if she’s already there setting things up, or if she’s working with Eagle. But they aren’t expecting me to be ready to take them over until late next week, so I was considering flying home tomorrow afternoon after all the paperwork is signed. If I can get into the factories and have inspectors looking them over quickly, they won’t have time to hide anything. That’s provided you aren’t upset about missing the opera tomorrow night, Kara.”

“Oh, no I’m fine.” Kara said.

“I didn’t think you were terribly excited about going.” Lena said.

“I’m sure I’d enjoy it. The opera productions in college weren’t exactly… polished. And they were long.” Kara said. “I got hungry in the middle.” She said that with her head down still over her salad, so she missed Lois catching Lena’s eye with an amused look.

“Who do you have to inspect the factories, Lena?” Clark asked. “Could a couple of Kryptonians help out?”

“I was hoping that I might be able to ask for your help with that, Clark.” Lena said. “I have a team of people at L-Corp who are qualified scientists, but in case there were something that came up…”

“I’d really prefer that you stay at L-Corp while Clark and I go with your team, Lena.” Kara said. “I know that they’re your property, but from what you described in that dream… I’m worried I couldn’t protect you if something went wrong.”

Lena started to puff up with indignation, but Lois intervened. “I’m sure you can work those details out later when it’s closer, Kara. Do you want some lasagna? It’s cooled off.”

“Yes, please.” Kara said.

“Help me serve, will you?” Lois said, and Kara joined her in the kitchen.

Clark leaned over to her. “That Kryptonian bossiness really can be irritating, can’t it? Lois has really knocked me in the head for it a few times until I learned not to tell her what to do. I can try to talk to Kara, if you want.”

“It’s okay. I know she’s only worried about my safety. I don’t enjoy being the damsel in distress much, but she’s trying to take care of me; I see that.”

Kara and Lois came back to the table and helped serve lasagna and garlic bread, brussels sprouts and numerous other dishes. It seemed like enough food for twelve people, but Lena wasn’t surprised to find that Clark ate as much as his cousin did.

“I’ve been talking to the Green Lantern. He’s been trying to find out what Brainiac and Lobo are up to, but he hasn’t heard of any fireworks from that galaxy.” Clark said, taking a break from dinner. “When he’s able, he’ll go and investigate. He did say that he had heard something about your flu before. Not any details; just that species other than Czarnians had somehow been infected with it. But his source was a long ago conversation with one of the Star Sapphires - the Zamarons. He’s sent word to ask her more about it, but her people are quite far away, and battling with Krona. He’s not sure how long it will take for her to reply to his message.”

“Well, I appreciate you using your resources.” Lena said. “I know that Kara has some contacts with aliens as well. Maybe she could also ask in National City. If it’s been something that has happened before, maybe we’ll find someone else who knows, too.”

“I’m wondering something.” Lois asked. “Is the business with Lobo and Brainiac connected to the factories? Someone wanted to get at Kara by kidnapping you. And in your dream, your factory explodes with you in it. Could your mother be behind both of them? Does the factory explode because Lobo’s attempt failed? Or are there two different people targeting you?”

“I can’t see my mother colluding with aliens. I know that Lex did for his own ends, but my mother seems to be much more purist about it. Maybe.” Lena shrugged.

“Lex did work with Brainiac at one time. I hate to bring that up now… but… do think your brother and your mother could be working with each other? Or at cross purposes?” Clark asked.

“I don’t know. I’ve come to realize that I don’t know what to expect from either of them anymore. When my mother kidnapped me last, to open Lex’s weapon’s vault… I almost got the sense that she was not working with his blessing somehow. And I thought it strange that he didn’t program his vault so that she could open them; she needed my DNA. It didn’t make sense; was he keeping things from her?” Lena said.

“That’s an interesting question.” Clark said. “If they are working against one another, or at least not together, that might make it easier to play them off each other. Maybe figure out what they are doing.”

“Have you had other dreams?” Lois asked. 

“One other, starring my mother. She had me trapped in a glass coffin, and spent the time berating me about how she had warned me, and it was all my fault.” Lena left out the part with Kara suddenly appearing on top of her. She wasn’t sure that was relevant.

“That’s worrisome, but not much to go on.” Lois said. “Not to wish you nightmares or anything, but a couple more prophetic dreams would be useful.”

“I’m wondering if they’ll continue. I haven’t had another one for several nights.” Lena said.

“Lena, would you help me get dessert? I know Clark and Kara will want ice cream.”

Lena new Lois must want to talk to her, so she followed her to the kitchen, where Lois started to lay out sundae dishes from the cupboard.

“Clark said that you are Kara are seeing each other. Or at least cuddling on rooftops together.”

“We are. This isn’t going to be a ‘don’t hurt my boyfriend’s cousin’ conversation is it? Because I’ll do my best, but there’s no accounting for my family.”

“No, I figure if anything, you should definitely be dating a superhero, considering the circumstances. At least Kara’s bulletproof. My father is no picnic, so I’m no stranger to family being imperfect. No… I just had something else to bring up.” Lois took a moment to twist a kitchen towel in a knot and untie it again before continuing. “I don’t want to overstep boundaries or anything, but… Kara has confided in me about her dating history in the past. And I know with a previous date, Kara broke up with them rather than disclose personal information. And as a person who is in a long-term relationship with a Kryptonian… well, it would probably not hurt if you raised the issue of what intimacy with someone from Krypton might be like.”

Lena suddenly had chills. “Are you telling me something that’s going to terrify me, Lois?”

“No! I doubt that very much. Surprise you a bit, maybe. I shouldn’t be bringing this up at all, but I know Kara, and I suspect she’ll dither and freak out about having a conversation with you when she could just get it over with.”

Suddenly Lena had a very good idea what her very first sex dream might actually mean.

“Please forgive me, Lena. I like you, and I’m hoping this works out, for Kara’s sake and yours. She deserves someone as smart and interesting as you.” Lois apologizing was too charming for Lena to take poorly.

“I can see why Kara loves you. Lasagna aside.” Lena said.

 

#

 

As soon as Lois had led Lena off to the kitchen, Clark turned to Kara. “I’m really sorry I said that about ‘not being able to trust a Luthor’ when we first met her, Kara. That was stereotyping, and I should have known better.”

“I think I have a pretty good read on people. And she’s never done anything that caused me not to trust her.”

“Do you love her?” Clark asked.

“I don’t know yet. I think so. I have strong feelings about her. I want to keep her safe all the time.” Kara said.

“I recognize that feeling. I railroaded over Lois quite a bit because of it, though. Make sure that you’re respecting Lena’s autonomy. I didn’t, and it almost cost me my relationship more than once. Lena is incredibly smart and savvy. Make sure you follow her lead most of the time.”

“I’ll will.” Kara said. “I should have learned that enough with Mon-El.”

“Have you told her about… you know?”

“Not yet, but I have to soon.”

“I know it’s not a fun conversation. It gets really weird. But it was worth it. I was really lucky.” Clark said.

“I know. I hope she’ll be okay. She’s afraid to do anything because of the flu, anyway.” Kara said.

“Well, maybe that will make it easier. You won’t be telling her under pressure. I wonder where they are with the dessert?” Clark asked.

 

#

 

Lena waited until she and Kara were both in pajamas and curled up in bed before she pounced. She crawled up on top of Kara and took her wrists and pinned them above her head. She knew that Kara could easily break free, could easily dump her off, but Kara didn’t.

“So. I gather there’s something you need to tell me about physical intimacy with a Kryptonian. I’m very anxious to hear all about it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do promise to get to the bottom of all these mysteries eventually. But first more sex, and probably another creepy dream or two...


	14. Alien Reproduction Systems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara tells Lena everything she needs to know about Kryptonian physiology.

_Lena waited until she and Kara were both in pajamas and curled up in bed before she pounced. She crawled up on top of Kara and took her wrists and pinned them above her head. She knew that Kara could easily break free, could easily dump her off, but Kara didn’t._

_“So. I gather there’s something you need to tell me about physical intimacy with a Kryptonian. I’m very anxious to hear all about it.”_

 

“Lois.” Kara said.

“That’s not really relevant to the subject, but yes. She may have hinted. I may have inferred from her hints. I definitely did some guessing. But I know you have something to tell me. And now is a good time.” Lena said. 

Lena sat back on Kara’s hips on the bed, letting go of Kara’s hands. Kara sighed, and Lena folded her arms.

“This is really embarrassing to discuss.” Kara said, unable to meet Lena’s eyes. She was ducking her head in the shy sort of action she did the first time she met Lena in her office. Lena thought it was adorable and ridiculous at the same time.

“I’m pretty sure that last night I let you finger-bang me every which way from Sunday, Kara. If you’re having trouble telling me something about sex… well, picture how you had me bent over that chair. Now spill.”

“I… okay. I have to figure out where to start. Back on Krypton… the people had gotten to a point where their reproduction didn’t really… This is hard.” Kara was squirming around under her like she wanted to crawl into a hole in the floor. Lena kissed her on the cheek and she stilled.

“Start with you, Kara.”

“I have… two reproductive systems. A primary one, that makes me female, essentially, and a secondary one that is dormant part of the time.” Kara couldn’t help but talk with her hands, waving them vaguely in the air. “All Kryptonians have two systems. But back on my planet, the secondary systems didn’t work for anyone. They were vestigial? Reproduction was usually artificial on Krypton. People harvested gametes and made designer babies in labs, because our polluted environment made people not conceive or carry babies normally. But here on earth, not only is my primary system, the girl parts, active, but because of the yellow sun the secondary system is too. The one with the boy parts.” Kara spilled the explanation in such a rush that Lena had to struggle to keep up. 

“So you’re telling me you have a vagina and a penis.” Lena said cautiously.

“Yes. But not all the time. I mean… I have a vagina all the time, but the penis retracts inside me every other month, and then reappears 29 days later.”

That dream. That dream could come true, too. Lena was suddenly very aware that she was straddling Kara’s lap. But she didn’t particularly feel a bulge there.

“You don’t have a penis right now?” Lena asked.

“I don’t. Well, I do. But it’s not out. It’s inside. It will be for another three days or so.” Kara said. She was watching Lena closely, and Lena could see she was really afraid of how Lena might react.

“Wow. That is pretty amazing, Kara.” Lena climbed off her hips and laid down next to Kara with her head propped on her shoulder and her arm around Kara’s waist. “I’ll bet that was hard to sort out when you came to earth.”

“It was.” Kara said. “Because my second system was supposed to be non-functioning on Krypton, they didn’t really explain to me that it existed before I was sent here. Eventually they would told me about it had I stayed, but I wasn’t quite the age where they would have worried about teaching about it. So when my secondary system suddenly went online here on earth, it was a surprise.”

“And as you were growing up, you were hiding that you were from another planet, so that must have been hard to explain to anyone you might date. It sounds different from intersex conditions here on earth, so that would be a tricky explanation to use.”

“Dating has been really hard.” Kara agreed. “I messed up really badly with the girl I dated last, and she really resented me. Mon-El at least… we fit together.”

“Fit together as in… he had the same dual system? Is that what you meant by that? I couldn’t figure that one out.” Lena asked.

“Yes. Daxamites also had a dual systems. But his was flipped around with the primary / secondary, of course; which is why he is considered male.”

“Oh.” Lena sat up a little to look at Kara. “Does that mean you could…”

“Put my penis in his vagina? Yes, it does. And yes, we did. And the other way around.”

“Oh wow. That’s… Okay, I can’t help but picture that.” Lena said. But mostly she was picturing Kara straining against her the way she did in dream, thrusting hard into her with Lena’s legs wrapped around her waist.

“It was really nice. And also it felt amazing.”

“I’m sure. I’m really sorry I’m the reason he’s not here any more.” Lena laid her head back on Kara’s shoulder.

“That was not you at all, Lena. That was his own mother. And he helped me make the choice that sent him away. He wanted it to protect earth.” 

“I feel like I’m a very poor substitute for him.” Lena said.

Kara pulled her in close to her body. “That is definitely not the case, Lena. Mon-El and I fought a lot. And we weren’t on the same page about ethics, and what it meant to do right. We got along great in bed, but I have to admit a lot of that was because it was the first time I ever got to actually use my penis with another person. I was a little bit obsessed with trying it out. But with you… I don’t feel like you’re constantly tugging me in a direction I don’t think I should go. I feel like we’re moving on the same path.”

“I’m sorry I can’t be what you need sexually right now, Kara. And I’m not a perfect complement to you, either.”

“That’s the last thing I’m worried about. And I’m just glad you’re not freaked out by my anatomy.” Kara said.

Lena shrugged. “I’ve dated men and women. Not many women recently. That was more in boarding school, but the idea doesn’t bother me. Obviously; the two of us have been really intimate. And I find you attractive, which you’re already aware of.”

“Well, I wasn’t sure how you would feel once you knew. I’ve always just wanted to be normal.”

“Kara! You are normal. You’re a normal Kryptonian living on Earth with a species of people built a bit different from you. You’re functioning exactly as designed.” Lena said.

“It’s very weird to hear someone say that out loud. I’m normal.” Kara said.

“Especially a Luthor saying it. I feel like we’re tempting the universe.” Lena said, playing with the buttons on Kara’s pajama top.

“As long as we’re tempting things…” Kara said, running her fingers gently down Lena’s silk pajamas from her shoulder, just grazing the side of her breast as she went by and down Lena’s side. Lena couldn’t help but inhale deeply. She felt her nipple get hard in response, and it was clearly visible.

“Careful. You’re going to turn me on.” Lena said.

“Oh, please. You’ve been turned on for quite a while.” Kara said. “Do you forget I can tell?”

Just the thought made Lena more wet. Lena realized she was biting her lip, too. Could she be more obvious? Even sprawled out on the bed in the ridiculous breakfast food pajamas, Kara’s body was all controlled movement and power, and when she pulled Lena on top of her, her strength was impressive.

“It’s ridiculously unfair that you always know when I want you.” Lena said.

“Yeah, well wait three days and you’ll find out when I want you too. I tend to get hard at really inopportune times.” Kara’s hands settled on Lena’s ass, and Lena abandoned all her intentions about taking their sexual encounters more slowly.

“I’m very much looking forward to that.” Lena said, wrapping her arms around Kara’s shoulders. She dropped forward to kiss Kara, and from there Kara took control of the kiss, of the two of them, and of the state of Lena’s dress. Kara sat up in the bed and carried Lena with her in her lap. She had Lena’s top unbuttoned and falling from her shoulders before the haze of Lena’s desire at Kara’s tongue in her mouth could dissipate.

“Is this okay?” Kara asked, indicating that she wanted Lena’s nipple in her mouth, and Lena couldn’t do anything more than nod yes. When Kara’s lips enveloped her, the fire shot straight to her core. Kara’s hands and mouth moved over her deftly, and Lena got lost in the sensations. She realized that they were moving in the same direction as the night before; Kara in control and Lena submitting. She really wanted to touch Kara too. Lena found the buttons of Kara’s pajama top and undid them one by one until they were all free, and then she reached for Kara’s stomach.

“Hey. You’re distracting me.” Kara said.

“I want to touch you, too.” Lena said.

“Later.” Kara said.

“No. I want to feel you skin on mine, Kara. Take this off.” Lena pushed herself away from Kara until Kara obeyed her.

“Now the pants.” Lena said.

“Really? I just want your breasts, Lena…”

“Really. I’m going to fuck you this time, Kara Danvers. You’re not going to spend the whole night inside me again and not let me touch you too.” 

Kara scrambled to follow her direction, and in less than a second Lena had a nude, sculpted goddess in front of her, reaching for her pajama pants to strip her too. And then Lena was naked and pulled back in Kara’s arms, with Kara’s muscled thigh sliding between her legs and pressing up against her vulva, and Kara’s hands and mouth were back on her breasts. Lena wrapped her arms around Kara’s shoulders and buried her face in golden hair.

Kara’s mouth and hands on her breasts were rough in their teasing, and Lena had to adjust to the assertive sensation to relocate her desire. Her core pressed into the hard muscle of Kara’s thigh, leaving wet arousal across her skin, and Kara was sliding her leg between Lena’s, spreading her lips apart. Soon Kara’s hand was roving again, moving over her backside, pulling her away from Kara’s thigh. Kara let go of Lena’s nipple with her mouth. Kara’s fingers pulled her cheeks apart, and soon found Lena’s wet vulva.

“You like it when I enter you from behind, don’t you?” Kara said, sliding her fingers inside Lena. Lena couldn’t do anything but groan as she slid down hard on Kara’s hand. “You push back against me like you want to be full.” Lena did exactly that, rocking onto the fingers feeling every part of her inside. “I love how smooth you are inside, and then I find this rough spot…” Kara stroked across her g-spot “and you start to quiver in my arms.”

Lena almost couldn’t believe the shy girl who ducked her head when she was embarrassed just half an hour ago was the same one narrating her their current sexcapade, but of course she was. Kara had always been a system of dualities; sweet and light, hard and unyielding. Lena had only recently be invited to see them in the same person. 

Kara started listing a litany of all the things she planned to do to Lena’s body in the future as she moved Lena up and down on her hand. When she started to described all the anal pleasures she intended to pursue with Lena someday, Lena was so startled that she came suddenly and hard. She had to see Kara’s face, so she pulled away from where Kara was pressed against her shoulder, and asked her “Really? You would do that with your tongue?” Kara gave her a wicked smile and kissed her hard, probing with her tongue against Lena’s lips. She was still thrusting into her through the aftermath of Lena coming, and Lena came again with Kara’s tongue hard in her mouth.

 

Lena had to stop Kara eventually. Two evenings of relentless attention from a Kryptonian left her a little bit sore and she needed to rest a bit. She lay on top of Kara. Kara seemed to prefer they be entwined together post-coital, and her hands were still gently playing with Lena’s ass cheeks. A brief thought of her doing something similar to Mon-El crossed her mind, but Lena banished the thought. Picturing them together was rude. Kara seemed content to just hold her, but Lena hadn’t done everything she intended. Lena slid her hand down Kara’s body to her thighs, where she stroked gently until she heard a sound like a purr or a moan from Kara. Then Lena slid her head down a bit and found Kara’s nipple with her mouth, coaxing it into a peak.

“Oh, Rao. Lena… you’re going to…” but whatever she was going to say next was lost when Lena slipped her fingers between Kara’s thighs. It wasn’t hard to find Kara’s vagina because the slickness led her right there, and Lena probed gently. Kara spread her legs apart further, encouraging. “Yes, Lena. Please. Please. I want…” Lena slid just two fingers into her, and the narrow channel was tight around them. She moved her fingers as much as she could, until she found a spot that made Kara moan out loud and say her name. Lena almost forgot Kara’s nipple until she felt Kara’s shoulder shift, and she took it back in her mouth and sucked gently as she stroked inside of Kara. It didn’t take power or strength to bring Kara to orgasm, just gentle touch in the right spots. “Oh, oh, Lena, I’m going to come. You should…” she pulled Lena’s hand from inside her Lena felt every muscle of Kara’s lower body flex and clench under her as she shook. “Sorry. I didn’t want to break your fingers when I came.”

Lena returned her fingers to Kara, sliding around her clit. “Oh. Oh, Rao… that’s… go slow, please.” Kara asked.

“Where actually does you penis go? Where does it come out when it appears?” Lena asked. “Or shouldn’t I ask? I’m sorry. Maybe that’s rude…”

“No, it’s okay. You’re actually touching it. What you think of as a clit is the head of my penis. And it’s… really sensitive, so… oh… Rao…” Kara was orgasming again, and it was fascinating to watch every muscle in her well-defined body convulse at once. 

“Wow, you come really quickly.” Lena said.

“That’s not a good thing. I have a premature problem. Fortunately I can recover fast.” 

Lena discovered over the rest of the evening that it was true; Kara came quickly and was ready right away for another orgasm. Finally Kara called a halt and pointed out the time. It was very late, and Lena had a lot to do the next day. This time Lena had the foresight to visit the restroom before she found herself locked up tight in Kara’s embrace on the bed.

“You wanted me naked, so that’s what you’re getting.” Kara said into her hair, her breasts pressing into Lena’s back and pelvis against Lena’s ass, with an arm tight around Lena’s waist and a thigh between her knees. This time Lena didn’t feel trapped. She felt safe. “Someday I’m going to lick your clit until you come on my face, Lena.” Kara whispered into her hair, and Lena thought she actually might be falling asleep as she said it. It wasn’t exactly a declaration of her feelings, but Lena didn’t disagree with her plans.

 

#

 

When Lena realized she was dreaming this time, she could tell because Kara wasn’t there with her on the bed, and she lay in a sheer white gown. In a dark room. She couldn’t move, but nothing was restraining her. The light that appeared above her was blinding at first, and then it dimmed and took shape, and became an enormous head, looming over her. A man’s head, green, with red glowing orbs attached to the top. He appeared to be examining her. “I am Brainiac. I have collected you because your physiology is unique. Your ability to see the future must be harvested so I may absorb it. Science demands your sacrifice.”

“Kara Zor-El won’t let you harm me. She will come.” Lena said, struggling.

“Kara Zor-El will be collected as well. You can’t save her. You will submit to me now.” 

The projection above her reached out and took her head into its enormous hands and pulled her toward the mouth, which inhaled her until Lena felt her conscious leave her body, and float through the air to became one with the giant head above her. She merged into the light and felt a sense of calm as she clicked into place.

“You see? Your primitive mind is much better inside my intellect. Doesn’t this feel the way it should be? We are Brainiac. We know all.”

“I know you’ve made a terrible mistake.” Lena said. Because she could see the cracks inside his skull, and she knew exactly how to break them open. Some part of her was Czarnian, and inside his head was the knowledge about how to use that. She triggered her own regeneration using the knowledge in his head to give herself substance. As she grew and formed, Brainiac started to howl in pain. She was soon too large for him to contain, and as she grew his skull cracked open, and she burst forth in a blinding light that could be seen throughout the universe. The shattered remains of Brainiac’s skull scattered throughout the galaxy.

Lena floated for some time, an energy being of perfect knowledge, before she remembered her purpose. She must return to her home. She felt herself flow in that direction, to where she needed to be, and she collapsed herself back into human form on the bed, being held by the one of the last remaining Kryptonians.

Lena woke up to Kara holding her gently, warmly. She wasn’t afraid, but she also wasn’t sure if that was just a dream. Had it actually happened? Or was it something that would? Because she almost felt different. Like bigger, smarter. Like there was some way to tap into knowledge deeply vast just nearby, under her finger tips.


	15. Additive and Subtractive Manufacturing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena gets a chance to see her factories.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not watching any of season 3 yet, because I don't want to have to factor any of that into my story. And I'm afraid I'll be irritated by what they do. I like my own version better right now anyway.

When Lena saw the little man in the lab coat waiting at her new factory gate, she thought she might be sick. Mr. Leopold. He was tiny; shorter than her, and round. Round stomach and round head, and he had round little glasses and receding hair. And he was very happy to see her. 

He was also one of the men following her mother around in her dream about the factory exploding. Lena felt her stomach take a lurch, and she had to retreat, because she really thought she was going to lose the terrible airplane meal they had served on the flight home. “Excuse me. Motion sickness from the flight.” Lena said to him, retreating back to where Supergirl was standing. Fortunately, her L-Corp Head of Development stepped in to talk to Mr. Leopold in the lab coat, who was the Supervisor of Materials for the former Eagle Magnetics factory.

“That’s one of the guys from my dream. Following my mother around the factory. There were three in lab coats, and he’s one of them.” Lena said to Kara, and by extension to Alex who was also right there. “And I’m not feeling well.” Lena admitted.

Alex stepped forward to the little man. "Do you recognized this woman?" She held out a photo of Lillian Luthor.

"Yes! That's our vendor, Mrs. Thorul, with Wyvern Industrial. We buy most of our raw materials from them. They're a lovely company to work with. Reasonably priced, and she comes to supervise delivery every time."

"Really? You don't recognize this woman from someplace else?" Alex said.

"I... well she looks familiar, I guess." The little man started to act nervous. "Who did you say you were? Are you from L-Corp as well?"

"No. I'm from the FBI. L-Corp brought us in. Because this woman is Lillian Luthor. Head of the terrorist organization Cadmus. And wanted criminal. There are posters for her all over town. You don't go to the post office? Or the bank?"

"I... no, my wife runs those errands. I'm so sorry. We can..."

"We'll plan what happens next, thanks. When do they have a delivery coming?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"You'll accept it as usual. But we'll be here with you."

"That sounds just fine. I'll be right here to help." The little man was practically quaking with terror. 

Superman stepped forward. "We appreciate that, Mr. Leopold." He stuck his hand out for the little man to shake, and the fellow lit up like a Christmas tree. "Right now, Supergirl and I would like to take a tour of the factory. Especially the materials that this woman has sold you. Could you help us identify what came from her company?" 

"Of course! Of course. We'll make sure anything wrong is set right together!" Leopold said. They turned to enter with the L-Corp Science team and the DEO.

Alex still had her eye on Lena, however. 

"We can go to the DEO if you want. Dr. Danvers is still in town. I'm sure she would be happy to give you a checkup if you feel you need it, Lena."

"Thank you Alex. Maybe after we're done here. I feel like this is my responsibility to take care of. I appreciate all your help." Lena took her hand and squeezed her fingers gently, then let go. Alex seemed surprised, but she nodded. 

They followed the rest of the team into the building. 

Alex leaned over to whisper to Supergirl. "You know if her nausea is morning sickness, Mom is going to murder you." Lena heard her say it. 

"It's not. We're having safe sex.” Lena said, leaning in close to Alex and watching her turn bright red. “We've been careful.” Kara pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. 

Ahead of them, Lena saw that Superman heard them too, because his ears turned red. 

Lena had told Kara that she had a dream the night before, but she hadn't even had time to describe it. They got up early to sign papers at Eagle Magnetics, then scrambled to catch a Friday morning plane back to National City before that company could catch on that they were planning inspections late that afternoon. Lena, Kara and Lena's L-Corp employees went from the airport directly to the “A” facility. Maybe the lack of food or some residual fear from the dream were upsetting her stomach. 

"I'm having my team mark all the containers from Wyvern with a blue sticker like this one so they can be checked." Mr. Leopold said to the gathering around him at one of the fabrication stations. He indicated some of the large tanks that Lena vividly remembered. They were liquid chemicals used to produce the composites that were molded in the 3-D modeling and printing process that the factory was innovating. Most of them were quite flammable. Lena recognized the labels this time; she could actually read them, and was familiar with their uses. But still, something seemed wrong. Her sense of nausea grew, and she started questioning what she was reading on the labels. She remembered the distinct acrid smells from her dream, and… 

“Mr. Leopold. Do you have some other color label as well? I would like to mark a few of these tanks as a priority to test.”

“Yes, ma’am. Ms. Luthor. I do. We have these bright red labels that….”

“Perfect.” Lena took the labels from his hand and marked the tank that gave her misgivings, and then began walking on her own. Supergirl and Superman scrambled to follow her, leaving the rest of the inspection team staring.

“Can we help you, Lena? You seem to have a plan.”

“Something about some of these tanks are off. I’d explain, but… I would just like them checked. Tested to make sure the contents match the labels. You two have x-ray vision… could you scan for anything that seems off? Missing security cameras, equipment that seems out of place - things that don’t match the map of the facilities we’ve been given?”

“Okay. But while we’re doing that, could you stay with Alex, please? Or bring her with you? Maybe you can explain the science to her, and she can help you.”

“You’re worried about an explosion? I think… hope, that we’ve changed the scenario. We have a team of people, and…”

“I know. And I agree. But still, if I can’t be with you, I want the next best thing, which is Alex.” Kara said. Looking into her beautiful blue eyes… Lena couldn’t say no.

“Okay. I’ll stay with Alex.”

Alex came with the DEO agents and Lena’s team, and they all seemed intent on staying with Lena. Lena could hardly explain to Alex or her employees that she was marking raw materials based on her gut instinct and what was giving her nausea, but that’s really what it was. She explained she was looking at the labeling, and based on smell and sight making educated guesses that there was something wrong. It was Alex that spotted the pattern; the vats and tanks that Lena’s gut instinct said were faulty in some way were in a small section of the factory, but at fabrication stations of particular kinds, and there were chemicals of similar kinds depending on what the compounds would become. Mr. Tyburn, Lena’s Head of Development, caught on to the pattern as well.

“Ms. Luthor…” The man said, catching her attention, “I think we can figure out what to test throughout the rest of this secondary process on this floor, based on the grid you’ve discovered. But there are huge storage bays of raw materials in the warehouse in the basement. It might be efficient to go through those, as they are all arranged together. If there are problems here on the factory floor, it’s possible that they’re a problem in storage as well.”

“I’m not letting Ms. Luthor go into a basement storage facility without Superman and Supergirl with her. It’s very important to keep her safe.” Alex told him.

“Yes, of course. I was just considering a way to cover a maximum amount of ground. And according to this manifest, they have some small carts we could use in the warehouse so she can move quickly.”

Superman and Supergirl rejoined them. Superman had a grave look on his face, and Kara looked unhappy as well. They had some news, but neither of them were explaining, so Lena knew it was something they didn’t want everyone to hear.

“We need to visit the warehouse in the basement.” Lena explained. “Agent Danvers won’t let me go without you.”

It was another 3 hours before Lena decided she needed to go home and go to bed. They had covered the whole storage warehouse in that time, and Lena had marked materials that she felt were off somehow. They wouldn’t know until the next day if Lena was hallucinating or crazy. And she had no idea why, through sealed canisters double-walled tanks, she could tell something was wrong.

The DEO set guards throughout the factory, and all of the former Eagle Magnetics employees were sent home for the evening. The DEO would be there in the morning to meet the delivery team from Wyvern Industrial.

 

Superman and Supergirl waited until they were seated in Lena’s town car on the way back to her home for to tell Lena and Alex what they had found.

“Bombs,” Superman said. “Six of them, rigged to the support beams near the roof, scattered throughout the building. Set to a remote detonator. I left the sensors in place so whomever planted them won’t know they’re missing, but I disabled and disposed of the bombs themselves. And Kara found something, too.”

Kara nodded. “A couple of secret labs that weren’t on your map. One of them is being used regularly - lots of charts and documents around. I snapped a bunch of pictures, but the DEO will need to take a closer look.”

“But are they sabotaging my factory? Or something else? Blowing it up? I know I’m tired, but I’m not sure I understand.”

“I have an idea of what they might be up to.” Alex said. “It was just sections of the factory where you thought there was a problem, and the rest was fine… maybe they were manufacturing weapons parts? If some of the raw materials are not what they are supposed to be for your medical equipment; maybe they’re planning to make something else. At scale. Like parts for replication of the alien weaponry that Cadmus has been purchasing on the black market.”

“That would be a good plan to finance my mother’s terror campaign. But how would she expect to get away with it? My employees would inspect and figure it out. Unless they were switching back and forth…”

“It could be. Or there could be a person or two on the staff from the former Eagle Magnetics involved. You may want to fire all of them. Or vet them really carefully.”

“I planned the vetting already; that’s underway. I’ll have to make more plans tomorrow with you. And hopefully you’ll catch my mother tomorrow, and whatever she’s planning won’t work anyway. I should tell you about last night’s dream, though, especially you, Superman, since you’ve met Brainiac.”

Lena described the dream and the ending, and how it had felt different; almost as if it had actually happened, and Lena had stolen all of Brainiac’s knowledge for herself. She waited for Superman to have a response, but he seemed to be thinking.

“Clark?” Kara asked. 

“I don’t know. That is pretty…. I’m not sure I understand how what you’re describing could work. But I’ve seen stranger things, I guess. I think if you had killed Brainiac last night, I would have heard of it by now. The Green Lantern or one of the other Legion members would have found me. I hope. I can reach out. But if this is a future event… If you could find a way to disable Brainiac, rather than kill him, I can place him in the Phantom Zone. I’ve hoped for a long time that he might be rehabilitated, and eventually join the Legion of Super-Heroes. And then you wouldn’t have a death on your conscience. Even if he did try to consume you.”

“I’ll try to do that. If it happens. I really hope it doesn’t. Thank you. For everything; you have gone out of your way for me, and I am so grateful. And I am so tired. Kara, will you stay with me tonight?” Lena asked.

Kara took her hand and held it. “I was thinking Alex might stay with you for a few hours at least. Clark and I really need to go through that other factory and look for bombs. But you need some rest. It’s been a long day. I’ll be back after we finish.”

 

#

 

Kara spent just a few hours with a sleeping Lena after their second factory visit, where they had found more explosive remote triggered devices. But had left Lena in bed at Lena’s penthouse apartment at first light. She needed to be at Lena’s factory early to meet Superman for the Saturday morning delivery coming from Wyvern. Lena might be angry when she found Kara left her out, but she had seemed ill last night, and Kara would rather risk Lena’s anger than her health. Vasquez and some other agents were at the penthouse as security. Lena went into the office on Saturdays, but Kara was hoping she would skip that plan.

Now that they were back in National City, Kara hoped their lives would stabilize somewhat. Despite the luxury of the Metropolis Grand, she had gotten sick of it after a while and wanted to be home at her own apartment, and back to work at CatCo. Her article for Snapper was still up in the air because of the way the sale had played out, but he had agreed to a multi-part series, so Kara turned in an introductory segment on Lena’s charitable plans to appear in Monday’s online issue. 

Deliveries to the factory took place on a loading dock above a ramp that lead to the basement storage. It wasn’t hard for Clark and Kara to find strategic spots to hide themselves and the DEO agents led by Alex did the same. They had no choice but to have Mr. Leopold meet the delivery truck; he supervised all the deliveries. But Kara didn’t trust him. Kara was thrilled when Lillian herself got out of the truck with two other men after backing it directly to the loading dock.

She came all the way into the factory dock to deliver the paperwork, but something about Mr. Leopold’s behavior tipped her off. He was, unfortunately, a terrible actor. Lillian started to retreat back to the truck, but Superman swooped in and blocked the door. She tried to run across the delivery platform further into the building, but Kara flew ahead and stopped her.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Lillian Luthor. Don’t try to run anymore.” 

“How are you even here?” Lillian asked. 

“I really need to know where Jeremiah Danvers is. And you’re going to tell me.” Kara said.

“I think I’ll tell my daughter he’s not really your father. And than you’re a Kryptonian.” Lillian sneered.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing, Lillian.” Superman said, dropping from the air behind Lillian.

“And you. Why would you bother with me?” Lillian asked. 

“Favor to my cousin. Family is important.” Superman said.

“It is. And I know you’ve been trying to turn my daughter’s head. But when she finds out who you really are, she’ll join me…”

“Oh she already knows. We don’t keep secrets from each other.” Kara said.

“She knows who you are? And she hasn’t tried to destroy you?” Lillian was shocked.

“Nope. In fact we’re very close.” Kara said.

“In that case, I have to enact other plans.” Lillian pulled a remote switch from her pocket and pressed it. Nothing happened. She tried several more times.

“Oh, we took apart all your bombs, Mrs. Luthor.” Superman said. He took the switch from her and pulled her arms behind her back so Agent Danvers could put handcuffs on her. Alex read Luthor her Miranda rights.

“I’m not done with you, Supergirl. I have more powerful friends than you can imagine. They are already after you.”

“We’ll see about that, Mrs. Luthor.”

They watched her being led off to a police van. Lillian would be turned over to the FBI, who would place her back in federal prison, and additional charges would be prepared. Kara hoped she might be able to negotiate information about where Jeremiah Danvers was, but it didn’t sound promising. Maybe the men working with her would talk.

 

“So. Everything is under control here, right?” Superman asked. “I hate to leave Metropolis very long. Lois steals the best stories from the news desk when I’m gone.” Alex joined them.

“I liked that story you did on the Puppy 5k Walk to raise funds for Metropolis shelters. The pictures were great.” Alex said.

“Seems mean to make puppies walk a 5k though. What if they’re really little?” Kara said, as if she didn’t understand the event.

“No, the people walked the 5k to the puppies, see. They get to play with puppies at the end.” Superman explained.

“Well, that makes more sense.” Kara said, grinning. “Sometime I’ll have to tell you the dream Lena had about a flying dog.” To her surprise, Superman stopped, startled.

“What kind of flying dog?” He asked.

“I don’t know. She said he looked like a mutt? He was this tall or so.” Kara held her hand up about at her knees, the way Lena had. “And he was white.”

“How did she meet him in the dream?” Clark asked.

“I… she said she saw him in the park and started playing fetch with him, and then he put his head on her feet. And she looked at his collar to see where he lived, and it showed her own address.” Clark had a look of surprise on his face, and he stood there a long time.

“Is everything okay?” Kara asked.

“Yeah, I just… could you have Lena describe that dream to me in detail? Like in email or something? I’d like to know more.”

“I’ll ask her. I think I just told you most of it, but…”

“There might be something she remembers that she didn’t tell you.” Clark said.

“Should I be worried?” Kara asked.

“Oh, no. Not at all. I’m just really curious about it. Nothing to be alarmed by.”

 

#

 

Kara sent Lena a text to see if she was awake.

 

_[Kara]: Hey. We arrested your mom. Sorry to leave you out. I thought you might need the sleep._

_[Lena]: Well, I’m well-rested now. I saw my mom being taken into the federal building on the news. The FBI is very excited to claim credit for her arrest._

_[Kara]: They are helpful like that. Can I come over?_

_[Lena]: I was planning on going into the office._

_[Kara]: Oh. Okay._

_[Lena]: Since my girlfriend abandoned me to have adventures with her cousin. But maybe I can fit you in, since you’re done arresting fugitives._

_[Kara]: I’m on my way.  
_

 

Lena was wearing jeans and an MIT t-shirt when Kara dropped onto her balcony, so she suspected the threat of going to work on Saturday was only that. Lena stood with her hands on her hips in mock irritation for a moment before letting her in.

“So, I’m your girlfriend, according to this text.” Kara said.

“I thought I could claim that since you’ve examined my vagina more than my gynecologist.” Lena said, leaning into Kara’s body and putting her arms around her waist.

“I’m fine with that.” Kara said, dropping kisses into Lena’s hair. "Your team didn't have any answers yet on the materials check. They're still planning on how to test safely in case you're right and those materials aren't as labeled. How are you feeling? How is your stomach?”

“I’m fine now. Your agents ordered a huge breakfast in and I ate. I think I was just running low on fuel.” Lena said.

“Is there any breakfast left?” Kara asked.

“Of course there is. Would I leave you hanging? But Babe, you really need a shower. You smell like that factory.” Lena said.

“Okay. Do you want to join me?” Kara asked.

“Do you want your breakfast to be warm when you get out of the shower?”

“Um… warm breakfast, please.” Kara said.

“I thought so.” Lena said.

“But naked Saturday after?” Kara.

“Maybe. I have actual L-Corp work to catch up with. I have several charity events I haven’t even started to look at the details for, and my green power projects are in “urgent” status for my review, and…” Lena said.

“Yes, yes. Busy CEO is busy. Maybe I can slip in a little surprise girlfriend attention between those things.”

“As long as it’s not while I’m on a conference call.” Lena said.

“Not promising anything.” Kara called as she walked down the hall to the bathroom.

“Great. China is going to love that.” Lena said, pulling breakfast food containers out of the fridge.


	16. Linking Semantic Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the middle of the night, in my dreams  
> You should see the things we do, baby

Kara really hated to leave a sleepy Lena yet again, but she hadn’t even been back to her own apartment yet. There were still DEO agents at Lena’s place, and her factories were secure now. Superman was contacting his friends about Brainiac. So it should be safe for Kara to sleep at home in her own bed, and even Lena had agreed she should go, before she said goodbye at the door of Lena’s apartment.

Kara had plants to water and mail to go through at home. A mom who had left six messages on her phone. Kara had barely said goodbye to Winn after they got off the plane, and she owed him a bunch of texts. And she should get started on the next steps of her article about Lena’s factories and what she had planned for them. Especially now that Snapper had realized Lena’s mother was arrested at one of them. It was going to be tricky to write about now with that new wrinkle. 

Kara had luggage, so she caught a cab home and lugged it up all her stairs like an average person. Mrs. Tanakis across the hall even opened the door to see that it was her and then slammed it shut again when Kara said hello. Normal.

Kara also had to figure out what she was going to do tomorrow, when her penis showed back up again. She and Lena had been having sex for the past several days. And quite a lot of it. Should she just continue like there was nothing different? She had with Mon-El, but he knew about it all along, so it wasn’t like it was weird. 

And Mon-El had the Daxamite birth control device that made it possible for them to have penis-in-vagina sex without either of them getting pregnant. Kara knew it must be in one of Mon-El’s boxes of clothes somewhere over in the corner, but there was no way in the world that she could ask Lena to consider using something that she had used with him. It was the only thing she could trust, though; even Mon-El admitted he didn’t know if human condoms would work for the two of them and he wasn’t willing to risk it. And Lena was still worried she might give Kara her illness. It was just better for the two of them to keep to the safe activities and not worry about other things. 

But Kara really wanted to do those other things. She had just had sex with Lena two hours ago, but she was still turned on. Really she needed to write, and water plants, and text Winn. Except that Lena smiled at her that afternoon; one of those smiles that lit up her whole face, and it felt like Kara was the center of the universe when that happened. Lena smiled at her, and she got to hold her breasts and her ass… God, Lena had an amazing ass. She could picture the astonishing perfect curve of it from her back to her thighs… Maybe she couldn’t have sex with her penis with Lena, but she could imagine doing it.

Kara shed her clothes on the way to the bedroom, and laid down, to imagine picking Lena up. She would wrap her legs around Kara’s waist, and Lena would guide Kara’s penis inside herself while Kara held her. Her penis would slide into the warm wetness of Lena’s vagina, while Kara kissed Lena until she smiled at her again. Lena would run her hands through Kara’s hair, and wrap her arms around Kara’s shoulders. Kara would gently push into Lena until she moaned in Kara’s ear… 

Kara was touching herself, and she was close to coming when she felt her penis move inside her. It was starting to emerge. And then the phone rang, and it was Lena’s ringtone. She scrambled to get it from the table beside the bed. “Hey! Is everything okay?”

“Hi! It’s fine. I just wanted to check in before I fell asleep. See how it was going. Did you get your plants watered?” Lena didn't seem sleepy anymore.

“Yes. I did that first thing.” Kara lied. “I’m just going to bed now.” She should really stop touching herself while Lena was on the phone, but she didn’t.

“I’ve been thinking of you.” Lena said. “Maybe I could visit your apartment tomorrow night.”

“Of course. We could curl up and watch shows.” Kara said.

“Or other things.” Lena said. 

“Such as?” Kara asked.

“Oh, come on. You know I want to see it, right?” Lena said.

“Do you?”

“Of course. You know, I never told you all of the details of the sex dream I had about you.” Lena said.

“Okay.” Kara said cautiously. This was something new.

“I didn’t realize it was you at first. I just knew I was having sex with someone who was on top of me. And inside me. With their penis. Thrusting… and I asked them to push harder, and then I came, and they came… and when you raised up your head, I saw that it was you. And I couldn’t figure out why on earth I was dreaming about you with a penis, and I though my mind was just in a really weird place.”

“And when you started to realize all your dreams were coming true…” Kara said.

“I still didn’t realize. I figured that was just a detail I added for some weird reason of my own. I didn’t know until you told me. You realize I’m touching myself right now, right? Thinking about having you inside me.”

“That’s good, because I’m laying here naked, masturbating and thinking about being inside you.” Kara said.

“We are really terrible at phone sex.” Lena said.

“I don’t know. I’m almost ready to come.”

“You’re always almost ready to come, Kara Zor-El.”

“That’s good; you should bring up my inadequacies when we’re trying to get off.” Kara said.

“I don’t think it’s an inadequacy. I think it’s charming that you think I’m so hot that you come as soon as I touch you.” Lena said. “And then come another twenty times in succession.”

“We’ll see how charming you think it is when I ejaculate twenty times in a row. Oh, Rao. I… God, Lena…” and Kara did just that, as the head of her penis started to emerge from its sheath inside her, covering her leg with sticky goo.

“You just came, didn’t you? Because I am too… Kara…” Lena said, and Kara heard her moan away from the phone and she heard the sheets rustle as Lena moved. “Oh, God, I want you inside me. Your dick, your fingers; I really don’t care. I just need you to fuck me hard… Kara…” Lena trailed off and Kara assumed she was having a second orgasm, because Kara was, too. 

Now that the head was out Kara could tug on it and stroke the slit until she came again. She should have retrieved a towel, but it was too late for that; her second ejaculation spilled next to the first. It hurt though, when it was just part way, especially when she tried to play with it. It either wanted to be in or out. Kara made an involuntary noise of pain when she came, and Lena heard it.

“Are you okay?” She asked.

“Yes. It just doesn’t like being part way out. Especially when I play with it that way.”

“It’s part way out? You should… text me a photo.”

“Lena!”

“What? We use a secure app. I want to see it.”

“I’m not sending you a dick pic, Lena Luthor.”

Two seconds later Kara received a notification from the Signal app they used for texts. It was a photo of Lena’s breast, with the words “you owe me.”

Fine. She took a photo of the head and part of her leg and sent it back.

“Oh, my god, Kara. Is that cum on your leg?”

“Yes. I know. It’s gross.”

“Oh, it isn’t. That is really hot, babe, and I’m going to come again, and you better be touching yourself, too.” Lena said. 

“Okay, I am…” Kara said, and groaned as she stroked around the base of the head, hoping to avoid another spurt right away. But it didn’t help, once she thought of Lena’s breasts she couldn’t avoid another ejaculation and jolt of pain. “God, Lena. I really need to stop. It really sort of hurts.”

“I’m sorry, Kara. I don’t want it to hurt. How long until it’s out completely?”

“Five or six hours, usually.”

“Okay. I can wait. We can wait to do more tomorrow.” Lena said.

But Kara could tell from the heaving sound of her breathing that she was still touching herself. “You’re still touching yourself, aren’t you?” She asked.

“Oh, yes. I am, because I’m looking at this picture of you. And your tiny little pee-pee head sticking out, covered in goo. It’s adorable. I think it’s my new best friend.” Lena said, breathlessly, and it sounded like she was groaning.

“It probably is. But it’s not tiny. It’s plenty big when it’s out.” Kara said.

“I’m sure it is, sweetie. You can show me tomorrow. God, Kara. Whatever you put in me, it better be fucking hard.” And she was groaning again, and Kara spurted on her stomach and felt a wrenching pain as her penis pushed further.

“Ow. Lena. I really need to stop now. I can’t anymore.”

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry. I should be listening to you, and not just… I’m sorry. I should let you go so you can sleep…” Lena trailed off at the end of the sentence as if she wanted to say something else, like “I love you” but decided not to at the last second.

“Goodnight, Lena. I miss sleeping in your bed.” Kara said. It was as close as she could come to saying what she really wanted to say, but shouldn’t. 

“I miss that, too. I’ll see you tomorrow, sweetheart.”

Kara sighed as she hung up. She should get up and clean up. Change the sheets, since she had managed to mess those up too. But she lay there thinking about Lena, and how quickly they became closer. It actually had always been there for Kara, under the surface, even when Lena was seeing Jack, or going out on random Tinder dates. She had just accepted the impossibility of it. If she had any idea then that Lena might be excited to see her vagina and her penis both, she might have asked Lena out sooner. Lena didn’t think her cum was gross. She thought it was hot. Lena loved sliding her fingers into Kara and stroking her g-spot. Lena didn’t freak out when Kara brought up anal sex. She was surprised, but she seemed intrigued. Maybe someday they could even do that. When Kara thought about doing that, she came again, without even touching herself. It hurt so bad her abdomen cramped up. She needed to stop. Kara got up and took a shower, then pulled the sheets off the bed and curled up on the mattress under the comforter. She could take care of everything else tomorrow.

 

#

 

Lean woke to a strange whirring sound that was loud outside her window. It was not a dream. It was 3 a.m., and she was wide awake. She was afraid to open the curtains, so she found her robe and looked outside the apartment door for the DEO agents who were supposed to be in the hall, but they weren’t there. Cautiously, she peeked into the living room area to see what might be going on outside on the balcony.

The noise was Lobo, on his weird space motorcycle, parked on her balcony. He was wearing some sort of hazmat suit with the hood pushed back. Of course he spotted her, and he raised his hands up and showed his palms, as though he was surrendering. “I’m not here to hurt you.” He was saying. The DEO agent on the balcony seemed to be in a deep sleep in a chair. She should be calling Kara, but she had forgotten to bring her phone from the bedroom… Lobo kept his hands raised and was repeating. “I’m not here to hurt you. I need your help.”

It was a foolish thing to do, but she cautiously opened the door.

“I’m not here to hurt you. I need your help.” Lobo repeated.

“How can I help you?” Lena asked.

“I need you to kill Brainiac. Before he comes to destroy Earth. And he’s on his way now.”

“How would I kill Brainiac?” Lena was confused.

“I don’t know. But he seems to think you can, and if he thinks that, it must be true.”

“We need to call Superman. And Supergirl.” Lena said frantically.

“No. There’s not time, and I think they might end up dead. Brainiac knows how to kill them, and he has weapons just for them. This has to be you and me.”

“How does he know who I am, even?” Lena asked.

“Some thing about you crossing over the threshold of the dream? You gave him some kind of badass headache. He was pissed when I got there. He beat the crap out of me.” Lobo said.

Lena hesitated.

“Look. He has an army, and he’s bringing it here. He will wipe out your Earth. We have to do what Superman does. Take the fight away from the people. He always moves them away from the city; away from planet. You and I need to go meet Brainiac and kill him in space before he gets to this galaxy, or it’s over. I’ll kill the army. And you’ll kill him.”

“How do you know you can kill his whole army?”

“Because it used to be my army. I know all those squishy bastiches. I can take them out. Look, if you’re scared, I promise; I won’t hurt you. I promised Star Sapphire I wouldn’t touch any of your body parts. And I owe her; I don’t go back on deals. Just please. We have to hurry.”

“I need to get clothes….” Maybe she could still call Kara if she could get to her phone.

“We don’t have time. None. We have to go. I don’t care if your nekkid under there. I won’t look at your boobies. Just come on.”

“You’re not afraid I’ll make you sick?”

“Yeah, I am. That’s why I have this suit. I’ll put the hood on if you’ll just get on the damn bike.”

Lena had no idea why she believe him, but she did. And she thought she ought to try to help. It seemed like maybe she was the only one who could. She climbed on the back of his bike as he hurried to pull the hood up over his head and engage the filters. At least his suit masked some of his awful smell. 

“Can you breath in space?” Lobo asked.

“Uh, No. I’m human. I can’t do that.” Lena said.

“Okay. Put this on.” He handed her some sort of weird clear helmet that she fitted over her head, and it sealed over her shoulders and filled with oxygen. It was fascinating, and she wondered how it worked. Lobo wrapped an enormous fur coat around her so she was covered up against the cold. She wondered what kind of being produced the fur, but was afraid to ask. Even sitting with no underwear on the leather seat and with bare feet, she was more than cozy.

“Why hasn’t Superman shown up? He should know you’re here.” Lena asked.

“Because I converted Spacehogg to biodiesel, so he can’t detect it.” Lobo said, “Uses dirty vegetable oil from restaurants. Green energy.”

“You are a unique individual.” Lena remarked.

“Your mother must really hate you.” Lobo said.

“Why do you say that?”

“She’s the one that bought off Brainiac to kill your Kryptonian girlfriend. She’s promised him a ton of weaponry.” That was a mystery solved. If only she could tell Kara.

“She’s not my mother. She’s my stepmother.” Lena said.

“Well, that explains a lot.” Lobo said.

“Also she’s in jail and I destroyed her weapons production abilities, so she’s going to reneg on her deal with him.” Lena told him.

“Aren’t you a spicy dish, then?” Lobo said.

He revved his engine, and blasted them into space.


	17. Semantic vs. Episodic Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena challenges Brainiac, and all does not go as expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> But I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of time  
> Honey, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time  
> I've got a list of names and yours is in red, underlined

The speed at which they arrived at their destination was blinding, but Lena could see they were in the right place. This was happening much more quickly than she was ready for. A vast army of small ships floated in space as far as she could see, surrounding a large vessel. She couldn’t even estimate how many ships there were. And Lobo thought he could destroy them all.

“Okay. My guy is going to come get me, and you need to take Spacehogg. You’re going to need him to get onto Brainiac’s ship.”

“Me? I’m supposed to ride… fly this thing?”

“Yeah, you. You’re some kind of genius, ain’t cha? Come on.” Lobo hopped off into… space, and scooted Lena forward on the vehicle.

“Okay, first we’re gonna need the ramming shields up…” Lobo flipped switches and a massive reinforced fin unfolded at the front of the cycle, armoring the whole front end.

“Wow.” Lena said, involuntarily.

“You like that, huh?” Lobo laughed. “Pay attention. This is just like riding a motorcycle on your earth, but with some extra.”

Except that Lena never had done that. She knew the science, of course, but…

“You know how to shift a bike, right? You’d need to get it into 8th gear before you get enough speed to split open the hull….”

“I’m crashing this into his ship?” Lena said.

“Yeah. He’s not gonna open the door for ya. Ya gotta get in to the main control room. That’s where he hangs out. Has a thing about control. But don’t we all.”

“I don’t know how to shift.”

“Geez. Give me something to work with. Okay, put your foot here.”

After quite a few false starts, Lena learned how to shift a motorcycle-like vehicle in the void of nothing that was outer space, with the help of a huge grey alien that she wasn’t entirely sure she wasn’t afraid of.

“See! You got it. You’re not a dummy. We are so lucky they haven’t spotted us yet. But they will when you hit that ship.” Lobo said. 

“Great. Thank you. I think I can do it.”

“You better. I’m gonna need this thing back when we’re done. Now that is where you are going to hit that ship…” Lobo said, and pointed. “And here’s my ride. It’s about frickin’ time, buddy.”

Lobo climbed into the empty seat of a strange two-passenger open space ship that looked entirely too much like a Mazda Miata, next to a very tiny green alien being. Lobo unzipped his hazmat suit hood and shook out his hair out.

“Whew. That was getting hot. All right. We’re gonna clear out all these ships near the hull so you don’t get shot on the way. Get going, girl. And don’t screw up, or you Krypton girlfriend is gonna die. Along with everyone else on your planet. Not me; I’m immortal, but I kinda don’t want to watch it. And oh, wait.”

Lobo stopped them from taking off.

“I almost forgot. Brainiac has a pink ring. Violet or whatever. Girly thing. You gotta get that from him when you kill him. He’ll have it on him. I need that ring to give to someone. Don’t forget, okay?”

“I’ll do my best.”

“I hope so. You can do it, you know. We’re going to get this.” Lobo said.

Lena nodded, and revved the engine, and kicked Spacehogg into gear.

 

The “ramming fin” cut through Spaceship’s hull like butter, so as soon as she was through, Lena throttled down and cut the engine, gliding to a stop in front of a petrified crew of people and a startled Brainiac, who had been huddled around a control panel staring at screens. Apparently the hull could heal itself somehow, because she was expecting them to be sucked into the vortex of space, and it didn’t happen.

Brainiac recovered quickly from his surprise.

“So helpful that you came to me. And how charming you are working with Lobo. You think that will save your Earth, but it won’t. I’ll still capture it. You’ve just made it easier for me to take what I need from you.”

Lena disengaged the oxygen helmet and removed it, then climbed off of Spacehogg, dropping neatly to the floor, while keeping Lobo’s huge fur coat wrapped around her. She had no idea what to do. She only knew there was a chance she could kill him if he sucked her conscious mind into his head.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? Maybe you should just kill me instead.”

“If I kill you outright, your precious Supergirl won’t get close enough to me for me to kill her. I need to get her here in this room. But if she thinks she can put your mind back in your body… And since you showed me what you can do, I took precautions. Never a good idea to cross the threshold of a dream, human girl.”

Brainiac’s crew members grabbed Lena and held her in place. Brainiac seized her head and held her while he pulled Lena’s conscious mind out of her body and inhaled it. Lena felt the tearing of her mind as though she had been ripped in half, and she screamed in pain; this hadn’t happened in the dream, and it was excruciating. When she was fully inside Brainiac, the pain stopped, and she could see virtually what she had seen in her dream; her conscious mind sat next to Brainiac’s in his head, partially mingled together on the edges. 

She looked for the cracks inside his skull. They were sealed shut and covered over. He had taken precautions. He had actually reinforced the inside of his skull. She almost wanted to laugh. She was trapped. 

She could also see through Brainiac’s eyes - her body was a crumpled heap on the deck of the control room.

“You see? Your mother said you were bright, but not bright enough.”

“Why? Why are you working with my mother? She hates you. She hates everyone who isn’t human.” Lena asked.

“She hates aliens. I’m not an alien, exactly. And more than hating aliens, she loves power. Just like your father loved power. People who love power are easy to control.” Brainiac said.

“You knew my father?”

Brainiac floated images of Lionel Luthor before her, and Lena felt anguish. Despite what she had learned about him after his death, she had loved him. Brainiac had many images of him, and one that caused Lena to convulse inside his head. 

“Ah, that image interests you, doesn’t it, Ms. Luthor. That woman you are so focused on?” Brainiac asked.

It was her mother. Her real mother, not Lillian, but the woman that Lena had only a handful of memories of (how she felt pressed against her, how her hands were on her Lena’s forehead, and how she hummed softly leaning over the bed to look at her daughter). This image was her mother moving through a room, in the background, with her father in the foreground. That was something Brainiac knew.

“What is her name?” Lena asked

“That is a piece of knowledge I do not have. A rare occurrence. She must have worked for your father; this is in his work place.”

Brainiac's attention to her wavered; he had just realized there was a battle starting outside. Lobo was destroying large swaths of his ships. Lena realized that despite the permeable mingling of her mind with Brainiac’s he couldn’t see or read everything she was thinking, and didn’t seem interested in doing so.

And the dream was still tumbling around in her mind. She had been separated from her body, but was able to trigger a regeneration. That didn’t make sense unless… the stabilizing DNA supporting her was Czarnian? That was what Brainiac’s store of knowledge had seemed to tell her in the dream.

Could she trigger a regeneration? She tried what she had remembered doing before, and that got Brainiac’s attention.

“You can’t do that. I split your mind in pieces and left some behind in your body. You don’t have enough of that DNA to regenerate. At least not here. I told you I prepared.”

She was truly trapped. But the battle outside was continuing, and Brainiac returned to trying to flank his ships against Lobo.

Lena tested the edges of their mingled mind and thoughts floated forward without attracting Brainiac’s attention. There was little knowledge gathered about Czarnians other than Lobo, and nothing about the Flu that attacked their species.

Nothing Superman knew suggested Czarnians were precognitive. Alex had said that when the Czarnian Flu was separated from it’s stabilizing DNA, the Flu died, but the strange DNA attacked Lena’s DNA and killed it. What was that DNA? Some other species that regenerated? Maybe one that had precognitive dreams? 

Naltorians. The information floated to her. They had precognitive abilities, and were rumored to be able to regenerate. That didn’t help her. She couldn’t do it now.

Frustrated, she thought of Lillian Luthor, and tried to call that knowledge. But that knowledge was episodic memory from Brainiac himself, not semantic memory he had gathered from other races and planets in his collection process. Brainiac knew instantly she was trying to find information on her mother, because he felt it. Furious, he did something that she didn’t expect; he zapped her somehow, and she started to lose consciousness. She was falling asleep.

 

Lena opened her eyes in her own bedroom, but it was quite different. A dream, again. The view from the window looking down over the city was the same, but it seemed surreal because the bed faced the opposite direction, and the room was a different color. This was much nicer; lighter with small bursts of color. She felt somewhat numb, and couldn’t understand why. She sat up a bit and realized the dog - the white dog - was lying curled up against her with his head on her thigh, licking her fingers every once in a while.

“Krypto! Get off the bed!” Kara hissed at the dog as she came in the room. The dog got up and jumped down off the bed, lumbering off out the door. “I don’t want him to hurt you.” Kara said to her quietly. A cry came from across the room. “Don’t get up! I’ve got it.” Kara went to where the sound was from, and picked up a bundle wrapped in a blanket. “Shhhhh. I’ve got you. It’s okay.” The crying stopped, and Kara turned to her, smiling.

 

Lena was jolted back awake by Brainiac throwing a tantrum. “No! That is not how this turns out. That is a fake dream. And this is not supposed to be happening!” Through his eyes she could see that the battle outside the ship was going very, very wrong for Brainiac’s army. Lobo had been joined by a ship with Green Lantern’s insignia, which was also cutting away ships. Brainiac was furious at her, at the battle… and as he ranted, Lena noticed something. Brainiac didn’t actually breathe. He was a hybrid of humanoid and cyborg, but he apparently didn’t have lungs or need to inhale. So his nose and nostrils were just… decorative?

It was a stupid idea. She had no way to test, and Lena preferred tests. She planned and tested and planned more. Lena never ‘winged it.’ But she also never rammed space motorcycles into space ships five minutes after learning how to drive them either. He was so distracted she had a chance…. Lena gathered up as much of Brainiac’s knowledge and consciousness as she could, and spun it around her like cotton candy around a paper cone. Then she dove in the direction of Brainiac’s nose. If he understood what she was doing, it was too late for him to stop her. She felt like she was being squeezed through a tube tugging an enormous blanket behind her, but she was out and all that she had brought with her slipped out behind her, too. 

Brainiac’s body fell to the floor, because she had just stolen his mind. His other crew members were gone. Fled from the devolving battle? Lena moved toward her own body like she was swimming in air. But if she dragged Brainiac into her head, could he control her? She didn’t dare consider it. She unwound him from around her and separated his conscious mind from his knowledge and memories. She let his mind drift off, then dove back into her own body, dragging the rest with her.

She was still alive; her heart was beating and she was breathing. The piece of her mind he tore off and left behind had kept her that way, while the rest of her had been gone. She slipped into place and rejoined herself, trying to match up the edges. She could move; she was awake and she could crawl. But something was terribly wrong when she tried to stand up. She had a blinding headache and fell over. She was alive, but she wasn’t sure she could stay that way.

She heard voices. She was afraid; were the crew coming back? But she recognized one of them. Lobo.

“Here she is. And geez. She did kill Brainiac.”

“No, he’s not dead.” Lena managed to say. “I just pulled his consciousness out of his head, after he trapped me in his brain. We can put it back when Superman puts him in the Phantom Zone. I forgot to check for the ring.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll find it. We need to get you help, human girl. You don’t look good.” Lobo said.

“Let me see her.” Lena heard a woman’s voice. She opened her eyes to see a woman with flowing black hair and pink eyes, dressed in purple.

“Hello, Lena Luthor. I’m Star Sapphire.”

“You’re pretty.” Lena blurted out. “And my head hurts.”

“Thank you. Let’s find out why, okay?” 

“She has Czarnian Flu, Star.” Lobo cautioned.

“Does she?” Star Sapphire. “Well, that can’t harm me. But that is a surprise.”

“Superman said you’d heard of that happening to people who weren’t Czarnians.” Lena said.

“I have. We’ll discuss it later, all right? Right now let me see what is going on.” Star Sapphire put her forehead next to Lena’s and Lena could feel her calming presence.

“You have far too much inside your brain for a human, Lena Luthor.”

“I stole all Brainiac’s knowledge and memories.” Lena said.

“And why did you do that?”

“He had an image of my mother. My real mother. I need it.” Lena said.

“I see. Well. I think you can keep that. And much else from his head that he stole from others, if you wish. The knowledge of lost worlds should not be in Brainiac’s possession. But not all of it. You don’t have the storage capacity. May I help you sort things out?”

Lena nodded, and Star Sapphire set to work, and soon the pain in her head eased as thousands of dark thoughts and fears cleared away.

“There we go. All better. And I think these are things that belong in no one’s head at all.” Star Sapphire said. Lena watched her rise and gather the flowing web of light that was Brainiac’s worst knowledge and memories into a ball it the center of the room. “Lobo, did you find my ring?”

He brought it to her, and she put it on. She fired a blast of violet light at the glowing mass and it burst into flame and disappeared. She gathered up Brainiac’s conscious mind, which had begun to drift across the room, and placed it on his chest. Then she bound it and him up together in a large violet crystal.

“There. We can deliver him to Superman, now. And I assume we should return Lena to her sweetheart. I believe Hal said she is tearing Earth apart looking for her.” 

Kara. Of course she would be frantic. “She’s going to be upset with me.” Lena said.

“I don’t think you should worry.” The Green Lantern said. “I let Superman know what was going on. He will have talked to her.”

“I’ll take her on my ship.” Star Sapphire said. “Hal, will you follow with Brainiac?”

“Of course.” The Green Lantern answered.

“I’m just gonna take Spacehogg. I’m late to an appointment in the Promethean Galaxy.” Lobo said.

“I’m sure Superman would like to thank you for your help, Lobo.” The Green Lantern said.

“That’s okay. I squared everything. You can tell him what I did.” Lobo climbed on his motorcycle and started the engine, and disengaged the armor fin so it folded away. “Thanks for not killing the bike, Luthor. You did good.”

“Thank you for lending it to me.”

“Yep.” He revved the engine and took off, squeezing the vehicle back through the gap Lena had created in the hull. After he was gone, Lena realized he had left her his fur coat.

 

Star Sapphire put a protective bubble around Lena and floated her to her spaceship, then laid her on a bench in the cockpit near where she needed to fly the ship to Earth.

“Are you feeling better, Lena Luthor?” Lena nodded. “You should sleep then.” Star Sapphire said, as she gently strapped her in.

“I don’t want to. I don’t want to have any more dreams.” Lena said. The last one she had, the one with Kara and a baby, had frightened her more than all the others. It meant far too much.

“Very well. I’ll sing, if you don’t mind.” Lena nodded, and Star Sapphire began softly singing a beautiful song in a language that Lena didn’t understand, as she started their trip towards Earth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt like there needed to be more action in this chapter, but I had to give up and post it before I messed it up completely.
> 
> BUT NEXT: Lena and Kara are reunited. Yep.


	18. Harmonization

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena and Kara are reunited, and there is sex and tears, and eventually a lot of pizza.

“Can I give this Flu to other people accidentally?” Lena asked.

Star Sapphire had fallen silent on the journey, intent on piloting the ship. Lena remained awake, watching the stars, and the Green Lantern vessel that followed them.

“No. Only to Lobo, and even then I’m not sure it would actually attack him because of the way it was designed. But I thought it might be better to keep him just a little scared of you. He’s fairly harmless now, but just to be sure.” Star Sapphire said

“So even if I’m… intimate with someone, I can’t infect them with this?”

“It’s unlikely. Are you speaking of the Kryptonian girl?”

“Yes.”

“It shouldn’t harm her at all. It’s not intended to work that way.”

“Intended? So you know what it’s supposed to do?”

“I do. And I will tell you, but this is not the best time for that discussion. You have undergone much, and I think that information can keep for a little while longer. But yes, you can engage in whatever sort of intercourse you enjoy with Kara Zor-El.”

 

#

 

Kara was pacing up and down the helipad on L-Corp’s roof, which is exactly what Lena expected. Her heart gave a jump when she saw her striding back and forth, pent up energy and frustration so obvious on her face. In contrast, Superman stood stoically in one place, patiently waiting, along with a large number of DEO agents, including Agent Danvers. Star Sapphire’s ship landed with Green Lantern right next to it. Lena unbuckled herself from the bench and shook out Lobo’s fur coat and wrapped it tighter around her. For the first time she was a little embarrassed about her apparel. 

Lena climbed down from the cockpit and found the exit door, and as soon as Kara saw her she was there to pull her into her arms, fur coat and all. Kara squeezed her tight and picked her up and carried her away from the ship.

“Kara, don’t squish her.” Alex said. “Remember human hugs.” Kara ignored her, but she let go and set Lena down.

“What the hell, Lena? I thought you were dead. I couldn’t find your heartbeat anywhere on earth.” Kara said.

“I’m sorry. There wasn’t time for me to tell you. We had to leave before Brainiac’s army entered the galaxy. If he had they would have started to attack, and Lobo couldn’t have taken them out without damage. He said we had to ‘take the fight away from the innocent people’ like Superman does.”

Lena realized Superman was standing next to them, with Star Sapphire and Green Lantern.

“He was right about that; they would have been too close if you had hesitated.” Green Lantern said. “We barely wiped them out. Big army of robot ships. They would have laid waste. Brainiac was planning this a long time.”

“We could have helped.” Kara said.

“Brainiac had some weapon to kill you.” Lena said, shaking her head.

“That is also true.” Green Lantern said. “He had a building-sized chunk of Kryptonite he made into a laser. You two might have been toast if you tried to join in the fight. I think he harvested it directly from the remains of your planet. I disabled the laser and stashed the whole thing away, but I’ll need some help from the Legion of Super Heroes to actually dispose of it, Superman.”

“Good to know. Thank you, Hal. I owe you.” Superman said.

“And Lobo. He really came through. Of course he was doing that for Star Sapphire, but regardless. He stepped up.” Green Lantern said.

“He did far more than he owed me, actually.” Star Sapphire said. “I think he’s fond of your human friend, Kara.”

“Should I worry about that?” Kara said, pulling Lena tight. 

“No.” Lena said. “He’s not going to hurt me.”

“And this one.” Green Lantern said, indicating Lena. “This one disabled Brainiac. She pulled his mind outside his body. He’s alive, but not functioning properly. Star’s got him all wrapped up in violet crystal. I heard you want to put him in the Phantom Zone for a while and see if you can reform him?”

“I’d like to try. I think he would do good with the Legion of Super Heroes someday. Speaking of that… you got your ring back, Star?”

“Yes, Superman. And yes, I’m interested in joining. My sisters I’m not sure of yet, but we are all on the same path now.”

“That’s wonderful. I’m starting to feel we might have a good chance now. But we need to get Brainiac taken care of. And I’m sure Kara and Lena have a lot to talk over.”

 

#

 

Kara scooped Lena up and flew her to Kara’s apartment, flying her in through the open window.

“I don’t know how you do that all the time without people figuring out you live here.” Lena observed.

“I pretend not to worry about that.” Kara said, setting the two of them down, then kissing Lena hard. Then she stopped, and seemed to notice what Lena was wearing. “This is a new look. What kind of fur is this?”

“I think it’s actually fake fur. It’s Lobo’s. I wasn’t exactly dressed for outer space, so…” She peeled off the fur and tossed it aside.

“Oh, my God. You went to space in your robe.” Kara caught her up in her arms again, and then set her back down. “Lena, you have nothing on under this.”

“There was no time! I told you. Earth would have been destroyed, and Brainiac was going to kill you. I had to stop him. It was a little awkward when Lobo was teaching me how to ride his space motorcycle, but…”

“You rode his motorcycle?” Kara was perplexed.

“Yes. I had to ram it into the side of Brainiac’s ship to get into the control room with Brainiac, while Lobo went off in another ship to take out the army.” Lena explained.

“And you did all this with no underwear on?” Kara laughed.

“Yes. There was no time, I’m telling you.” Lena said.

“God, I love you.” Kara said, picking Lena up and laying her on the couch and settling down on top of her to kiss her.

Lena kissed back as frantically as Kara did, but she had noticed what Kara said, though Kara seemed unconscious of it. Kara loved her. It was said in the heat of the moment, so maybe it was a stronger expression than Kara would have otherwise said, but… The weight of Kara on top of her, kissing her neck and breathing heavily against it reminded her instantly of the sex dream and Lena was dizzy with desire. And this time Lena could feel the bulge between Kara’s legs, pressing against her.

“I can’t make you sick. With this virus; it won’t hurt you.” Lena said. “Star Sapphire explained. A little. She told me she would explain more about what it is later, but she said we could ‘have whatever sort of intercourse we enjoy’.”

Kara stopped kissing her neck. “I’m going to need a towel,” she said.

“Actually, I would like to take a shower before we…”

“Oh. Yes, of course. I have a shower here, you can…” Kara said, climbing off of Lena and helping her up.

“I assumed you did, Kara.” Lena said.

“I could… we could… I could join you.” Kara suggested.

“Actually, I think I would like to shower alone this once, if that’s okay with you.” Lena said.

“Can I sit outside? I don’t want to be away from you.” Kara asked.

“If you want. I don’t think I’m going to disappear from the shower, but if it makes you feel better.” Lena said.

Lena scrubbed away the day while explaining the rest of her adventure to Kara, who sat nearby like a sentinel.

“I can’t believe you did all that. And I was useless. I spent the whole time flying around the world listening for your heartbeat and yelling at Clark. I should apologize to him, actually.”

“I’m sure he understands, sweetie.” Lena said, wrapping herself up in a towel and stepping out of the shower. Kara was instantly there with her arms around her. “Do you think you might need to shower, too? Since you flew around the world?” Lena suggested. 

“Oh. Yes.” That took less than a minute while Lena dried her hair - suit crumpled in a pile on the floor on top of Lena’s robe, moving at super speed - and soon Lena had a wet, naked Kryptonian girl wrapped around her, kissing the back of her neck and watching the two of them in the steamed up bathroom mirror. Kara was beautiful, and especially with her strong arms around her. Kara’s hands quickly pushed aside the towel Lena had around her, and found their way to Lena’s breasts, teasing her nipples into peaks, and Lena arched her back against her. Kara’s eyes closed as she kissed a path down Lena’s shoulder, and Lena watched her intense face in the mirror. Kara’s penis was rock hard against her lower back, and Lena was so wet. How easy it would be to bend over just a bit and let Kara slide into her… she wanted that so much.

“I need to lick you.” Kara said in her ear. “That first day I met you, I thought of it; how it would be to bury my face in you… I didn’t even know you, and I wanted to. I had such a hard on. Thank Rao for that stupid note pad.”

“I certainly underestimated you that day. If I had any idea what you were really like, I would have invited you to ditch Clark Kent and do exactly that.”

“Okay, we need the bed.” Kara seized her, threw Lena over her shoulder, and carried her into the bedroom.

“How Neanderthal of you.” Lena said, as Kara flipped her onto the bed and fell on top of her. 

“You have no idea.” Kara said and started kiss down her neck. Kara’s hands and mouth seemed to be everywhere on her at once; at her breasts, over her stomach, between her thighs. Kara’s mouth, her lips, between Lena’s thighs, moving over her skin with that intense expression on her face, that look of concentration that Lena loved. Kara’s lips, her tongue, pushing her lips apart. Kara’s hands pushing her thighs apart, her legs over Kara’s shoulders and back, hands spreading Lena apart so her tongue and lips had room to move over her, inside her… Kara’s tongue inside her thrusting. Lena couldn’t help it; she ran her hands through Kara’s hair and pulled, but Kara didn’t seem to notice or change anything she was doing. Lena thought she might orgasm just having Kara’s tongue inside her but she didn’t get the chance to find out. Kara replaced her tongue with her fingers and found Lena’s clitoris with her mouth. It didn’t take long before Lena was coming against her, fingers still wrapped in Kara’s hair. The sounds Kara was making made Lena look down to realize Kara was experiencing the same thing. Kara’s abs were convulsing, and her erect penis was ejaculating into the towel Lena had been wrapped up in.

“Are you coming, Kara?” Lena asked, amused at the spontaneous ejaculation.

“I… it’s okay. I caught it with the towel.” Kara said, looking down at herself.

“I’m not worried about where you sperm goes, Kara.” Lena said, brushing Kara’s hair out of her face.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t wait longer.”

“I also don’t care about that, sweetheart. Come up here.”

Kara crawled up next to Lena and curled up next to her and Lena kissed her face, tasting her own fluid on Kara’s mouth. She had never done that before with anyone who had gone down on her, but Lena didn’t hate it.

“I only care that you have orgasms, Kara, not where or when.” She reached for Kara’s penis, which was still erect against Kara’s stomach.

“Okay, if you touch it, it’s going to go off right away.” Kara warned. 

“Well, you have a towel. We’ll be fine.” Lena said, and stroked it with her hand. She ran her thumb over the tip that was still sticky with ejaculate, and spread that back over the head.

“It’s so different not to find balls down here.” Lena observed. She was stroking softly against the base.

“I have them; they’re just inside.” Kara said. She seemed to be holding her breath, and Lena realized it was because she was trying to hold back an orgasm.

“You have ejaculate. I assume you have sperm too.”

“Yes. Lots. That’s why I’m worried about where my sperm goes.” Lena noted that and moved on.

“Would you enjoy it if I had my fingers inside you while I…”

“Rao, yes, I would.”

So Lena did just that, slipping her fingers in Kara’s vagina and gently stroking her g-spot while she stroked her penis at the same time. She was rewarded with a handful of ejaculate and a near miss at having her fingers injured when Kara clamped down with her kegel muscles. 

“I’m so sorry.” Kara was saying. 

Lena laughed. “I’m not the slightest bit sorry. I want to do that again. But there’s something else I want to try.”

Lena cleaned her hand off on the towel and ducked her head down to licked the head of Kara’s penis.

“Oh, Rao.” Kara said, and then couldn’t seem to say anymore. Lena wrapped her lips around the head of Kara’s penis and sucked, and then tried to see how much she could take in. She had never been very good at fellatio, but that didn’t seem to matter to Kara, who was keeping up a steady stream of words describing how happy she was. Kara’s penis was exactly as she though it had been in the dream. Not terribly long, but thick. It was hard to wrap her mouth around, actually, but that didn’t matter because she had barely gotten started when Kara let her know she was going to come. Lena ignored the warning and went back to sucking on the head and licking the tip with her tongue until she felt the rush of salty fluid in her mouth. This was also not in Lena’s wheelhouse of experience, but she didn’t mind. Kara did have a lot of ejaculate. To her surprise, Kara’s penis actually went soft.

“Lena.” Kara wanted to hold her, so she crawled up into her arms. It took a moment for Lena to realize that Kara was crying.

“Sweetheart. Are you okay?” Lena said.

“I thought you were dead. Until Superman heard from Green Lantern. I thought the reason I couldn’t hear your heart was because someone your mom sent had killed you.”

“I’m so sorry, sweetie. I didn’t want to do that to you. I wanted to hurry up and beat Brainiac so we could get back before you realized I was gone. I would have told you if I could. I never want to make you this sad. I’m not going anywhere ever again, unless it’s with you.”

“You promise?”

“Yes. I promise. I will always be with you, Kara Zor-El.” Lena brushed away her tears. “I will never run away with Lobo ever again.”

“Especially not half-naked.”

“Especially not. Half-naked is only for you, from now on.”

“And ‘completely naked’ is mine, too. I claim that also.” Kara said.

“Yes, that’s yours too. Whatever makes you happy, sweetheart.”

“How about this? This would make me happy.” Kara was running her fingers through Lena’s pubic hair.

“Oh, I think that would make me happy too…” and Kara’s fingers slipped inside of her. Unlike Kara, Lena like her stroking to be hard and fast, and Kara was certainly good at that. 

“We need to get condoms, Kara.” Lena said, breathless, after she finished another orgasm.

“I don’t know if they’ll work. They’re designed for human sperm, but mine is different. I never wanted to ask my mom. Or Alex.”

“What did you and Mon-El do?” Lena asked.

“He had a condom-like device from Daxam that prevented anything from passing through. We both used that when we… but I didn’t want to suggest that to you, because… shared? Yeah, that’s not appealing.”

“You know you’re dating a scientist, right?”

“You could invent a condom for my sperm?” Kara asked.

“Probably. I may need a sample. One that I didn’t swallow. You realize your cock is delicious, by the way.” Lena said.

Kara snorted when she laughed. “I’ve never had any one call mine a cock.”

“Well, that’s what I’m calling it from now on. ‘Kara, come over to my place right now. I need your cock urgently.’ Unless it’s the wrong month for that, of course.”

“Wow, it’s funny how my ‘cock’ responds to that on it’s own.” Kara said. She was hard again.

“Well, I’m happy to take care of that, sweetheart.” Lena said, kissing her.

 

#

 

Eventually Lena realized she was ravenously hungry and Kara ordered four pizzas. The two of them had finally put on clothes, with Lena borrowing a sweatshirt and sweatpants from Kara’s drawer, and were eating with gusto.

“You know, sometime I’ll need to got to my place and get my own clothes. And my purse, and my phone.”

“I have your phone. It’s over here charging.” Kara retrieved it. “That wasn’t embarrassing, by the way. Alex unlocked your phone to figure out if there was any way to figure out what happened to you, and of course it opened to my dick pic. So thanks for that.”

“That’s what Alex gets for unlocking my custom super-encryption.”

While Lena clicked through the mass of new emails in her inbox, Kara got a text from Superman letting her know that he and Green Lantern had put Brainiac in the Phantom Zone. 

“Clark wants us to get together and talk about everything that happened, if you are willing.” Kara said.

“I expect the Green Lantern told him that I stole all of Brainiac’s knowledge and memories and stuffed them into my own head.” Lena said, licking tomato sauce off of her thumb.

“I think I missed that part when you told me what happened.”

“I did say it, but I kind of glossed over it. I was going to tell you more eventually, but it was hard to talk in the bathroom when the shower was running. Also I really wanted you to fuck me, so… I did that first. But yes, that’s what I did.”

Lena gave Kara a more complete picture of exactly what she had done to Brainiac, and how Star Sapphire had sorted out memories and knowledge and discarded it.

“So you have a picture of your real mom. I wish I could see it.” Kara said.

“I wish I could share it with you. It makes me so happy. Maybe, if she worked for L-Corp, I can figure out who she was.” Lena said. “What do you think your cousin will want to do about what I stole?”

“I don’t know. It better not involve doing anything to you. I’m not going to stand for that.” Kara said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next, Star Sapphire spills the beans. It's not a happy scenario.


	19. Threat Simulation Theory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena learns she has some terrible decisions to make about her future.

“As much as I would love to hang out with Superman again, now that I’ve seen my phone and know what date and time it actually is, I really have to go to work, Kara.” Lena said. “At least for the afternoon. I’m so far behind on everything.”

“I have been keeping Jess advised. And Alex has. She said she could take care of things with your board of directors.” Kara said.

“Well, that’s good, but I need to make an appearance. Can we talk to Superman later this evening instead of now?”

“I’ll text him.”

 

#

 

Jess was surprised to see Lena when she got to the office, but she seemed elated. “Oh, Ms. Luthor. There is so much for me to tell you.” Lena braced herself for a hug, but Jess held it together and smoothed out her skirts instead. 

Jess had reports, reports, and more reports, and she lingered in Lena’s office while Lena settled in to read them. Jess seemed reluctant to leave her alone, and Lena didn’t exactly mind. She wasn’t keen on being alone either.

The board had actually made some decisions about the Green Power Initiative without her - preliminary plans, but they fit with her general directives, so she couldn’t find fault with them moving forward. That was a huge relief and several weeks of work taken care of.

There were reports from her new factories. Every tank and vat of chemicals that Lena thought was suspicious was indeed wrong. Her mother had been up to something. And it wasn’t just planning to fabricate weapons parts, although that seemed to be part of her program. The charts and formulas from the secret lab Kara found, along with the knowledge she had from Brainiac, told Lena exactly what her mother had been up to. She had been making parts for alien weaponry like Alex had speculated, but she was also making her own super weapon. And the blueprint for it had been Lex’s. It was a war suit. But one customized for Lillian Luthor.

Lena asked jess to instruct the her L-Corp science staff to take over the day-to-day running of the new facilities, and have the current factory staff re-apply for their jobs. She hated to ask that considering some of them were probably innocent of wrong doing, but there was no way her mother had infiltrated so thoroughly without someone in the plant being aware of it.

She would need to make a visit to both plants, but she put it off until later in the week. She was nervous to go there, Lena had to admit to herself.

Lena met with most of the board late in the afternoon and managed to keep the meeting short; enough so they saw her face, and knew she was alive and still in charge. Then Jess arranged for her car to take her home. If Superman was coming to her penthouse for dinner, she needed to get prepared. And Lena missed Kara so much she thought there might be something wrong with her.

 

#

 

Kara loitered around DEO headquarters all afternoon, waiting for something to happen. The day was strangely quiet, and she missed Lena. But Lena had work to do. Kara had turned in her second set of articles for Snapper on Lena’s factories and the sabotage, and Lillian Luthor’s arrest, so Snapper was satisfied for a while at least. After training for a couple of hours, Kara went to bother Winn.

“Hey, Supergirl. This may be a boring thing, but you remember that fake space ship you found out in the desert? I translated the Klingon. The agents dragged it here, since they couldn’t leave it out there on government property.”

“Really? What did it say?” Kara asked.

“Well. It was actually political propaganda. Anti-Cadmus political propaganda. Seems there’s an anti-Cadmus, pro-alien human movement.” Winn said.

“Huh. That’s odd. I mean, I guess that’s a good thing.”

“Yeah, well it seems like they’re organizing. And recruiting.”

“That maybe be… less good?” Kara said.

“I’m really not sure.” Winn said. “Jo’nn talked about sending a team to infiltrate them and make sure they weren’t planning anything militant. I may have volunteered to be on it. Because, you know, Klingon.”

“Well. Going into the field. Good for you, Winn. Of course, you have all that Guardian experience, so it’s about time.”

“Yeah, I’ve missed hanging out with James since he went to visit Lucy in D.C.”

“Does it sound like he’s coming back soon?”

“They don’t hate the Guardian in D.C., I guess.” Winn said. “He made the news there.”

“Wow. I’m surprised with all the intelligence types there.” Kara said.

“I think he might be their kind of superhero.”

Kara got a text from Lena.

“I gotta go.”

“Girlfriend text?” Winn asked.

“Yep.”

 

#

 

Lena practically attacked Kara when she came in the door, and neither of them were gentle as they stripped each other and Lena dragged Kara to the bedroom.

Lena groaned at the feeling of Kara’s hard-on pressed against her ass. She really, really needed to figure out this condom thing. Because she wanted more than anything to feel that up inside her, so much that she ached. Kara’s fingers were deep in her, and she still wasn’t satisfied. She leaned over the dresser further so she could take them deeper.

“Fuck me harder, Kara.”

“I’m trying not to hurt you, Lena. Believe me, I want to pound a hell of a lot harder than this.”

Lena heard Kara groan, and when she felt warm wet liquid shoot across her ass cheek, she realized that Kara had come already.

“I’m sorry.” Kara said.

“If you keep apologizing for coming, I’m never letting you put your fingers in me again, Kara Zor-El. Do you not realize how hot that is?”

“You want me to ejaculate on you?” Kara asked in disbelief.

“Yes, damn it.” Lena said, and bent over further.

Kara picked up the speed and intensity of her fingers inside Lena and finally, finally she got the relief she was looking for. It wasn’t the cock she wanted inside her, but it was close to perfect, anyway, and when she came, Kara came again too, spurting another jet of come across her other ass cheek.

 

The high Lena felt from the orgasm (and from all the attention that Kara had lavished on her body in the last half hour) was wonderful, but it wasn’t quite enough. It was too much to ask, and too soon, but…

Kara, there’s something else I need.” Lena said.

“Okay. Whatever you want…” but Kara stopped abruptly when she realized what Lena was doing. Lena had careful scooped up Kara’s ejaculate and relocated it to her anus, where she spread it carefully, lubricating it.

“Do you understand what I want, sweetheart?” Lena asked.

“Yes. I… Yes. I’m not sure…” Kara said.

“Go slow.” Lena said.

Kara wiped away the other ejaculate, and Lena realized she had covered her penis with it when she felt it press against her rear entrance. She tried to relax, but the pressure of it was intense, and she realized that maybe this wasn’t a good idea. She had only done this once before with Jack, and Kara was much, much thicker. But Kara was incredibly careful, and as she pushed forward Lena managed to relax enough to let Kara’s uncut head inside her anus. She felt the muscles inside herself let go, and the lubrication of Kara’s come helped her slip deep inside.

“Oh, Rao. I’m inside you, Lena.” Kara said, and the wonder in her voice made Lena want to come immediately. Kara’s hips started to move gently at first, but as the slickness aided it, and as Lena relaxed more, she moved faster. The fullness of it wasn’t quite the sensation Lena wanted; she wanted her pussy this full instead. But it still felt wonderful, and by the sounds Kara was making, she was absolutely thrilled. Kara like to talk about how turned on she was when she was aroused, but there wasn’t any sort of sense to the noise she was making now. Lena thought she might be able to come just from the pressure of Kara inside her, but she put her hand on her clit and began stroking just the same. She knew Kara would come soon anyway, and she wasn’t sure if she would still be hard after. Kara did come then, and the additional slickness inside Lena’s anus made it that much easier for Kara to move, so that she was thrusting with intensity, still rock hard. Lena thought she might have bruises on her hips later from the way Kara was gripping her, but the last thing she wanted was to disengage. Finally Lena came again, heaving against the dresser top, covered in sweat. Kara came one last time, stopping deep inside her to unload, her cock throbbing against Lena as she came.

“Oh, my God, Lena. Rao. That was amazing. I can’t believe you let me.”

“You brought that up before, Kara. I assumed you might want it.”

“I know, but I figured it would be a long time in the future. Like after we were married or something. I didn’t think you’d let me do butt stuff this soon.”

Kara was still cock-deep inside her, leaning against her with her head against Lena’s back and her arms around Lena’s waist, and Lena suspected she wasn’t really thinking about what she had just said. But Lena heard it.

“I really love your cock, Kara. And I’m thrilled to have it inside me. We should probably shower though. We have a guest coming.”

They managed to shower together with a minimum of additional sex involved, other than Kara going down on her while the water played down over Lena’s head. As Kara got her off again, Lena watched her face as her lips moved with perfect confidence on her clit. Kara glanced up at her, and Lena felt a warmth flow over her. Warm, sweet funny Kara. Strong, fierce, invincible Kara. Kara moving like a battering ram inside her was a revelation.

But Lena realized she agreed with Kara. She had put off anal activities with Jack until well after they had been together a year, and when they did engage in it they were so out of sync that they never tried again. Yet she and Kara had been together less than two weeks and Lena had invited her into one of the most intimate activities they could share. She had been so quick to let Kara explore every part of her. 

Fortunately they finished in time for Lena get dressed and answer the door for the caterer from the restaurant on the first floor.

 

#

 

Kara sat through dinner incredibly nervous. She had kicked her cousin’s butt before, but she really didn’t want to have to do it again over Lena. She would if he thought he was going to suck anything out of Lena’s brain, but she didn’t really want to. Fortunately, he seemed really cheerful from the moment he greeted them, and he had brought Star Sapphire with him. Surely he wasn’t planning on doing some sort of brain suck with her here; she had let Lena keep most of the memories she stole anyway. 

Kara was also really distracted by the sex she and Lena had had that afternoon. Not that she didn’t enjoy it. She did, so much. But she was surprised at how quickly they had moved to such intimate sex, and they hadn’t talked yet about what they meant to one another. Kara wanted to spend every minute with Lena didn’t stop thinking about her. She though she might be in love. But it was so soon, and though Lena looked at her like she felt the same, they hadn’t said anything out loud.

But she couldn’t talk about what Lena was feeling with guests, and she kind of wanted them to leave. As soon as she heard what Clark had to say.

“Clark, what did you want to talk to Lena about?” Kara finally blurted out between bites of the very delicious crab cakes and pasta that the caterers had delivered.

“I wanted to ask her about Kandor, actually.” Clark said.

“What about Kandor?” Kara asked. She recognized the city. Her mother had commuted there everyday when Kara was a child. She had visited more times than she could count. Clark took a deep breath.

“Brainiac shrunk the city and captured it in a jar. Just before Krypton exploded. I took the jar from him years ago, and it’s at the Fortress of Solitude.” Clark said. “I’m sorry I haven’t told you before now. It’s just… I don’t know if any of the people survived, or if we can reanimate them. Or unshrink the city. But Brainiac would know.”

Kara was so shocked she didn’t know what to say. Kandor was in a jar? Kandor was intact? Why hadn’t he told her?

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Kara asked.

“I was afraid to get your hopes up. I was afraid you would be as upset as when you landed. I didn’t want to hurt you. But if we can bring Kandor back…” Clark looked at Lena.

“I don’t know.” Lena said, “I know about the shrink ray. I might be able to recreate it. But most of what I took from him wasn’t Brainiac’s own memories. It might be possible. I will help you with anything I can, Superman.”

“Thank you. I’ve had Kelex working on solutions for years, but he hasn’t solved it. Maybe if you worked with him, there might be a way.” Clark said. “And I thought, maybe you’d be willing to talk to the Justice League sometimes? If they have questions? Star Sapphire said that Brainiac had a lot of information on lost worlds.”

“Yes, I would be happy to do that too, Superman. I realize that snatching all of Brainiac’s stolen knowledge was on the questionable side. But he had information about my mother. My biological mother. I don’t know who she was.” Lena said.

“My parents might have been in Kandor. Your pod and mine launched from there.” Kara said to Clark.

“I know. My parents, too, possibly.” Clark said. “And I’m sorry. I didn’t know if I could get answers, real answers, before now.”

“I wish I knew for sure that I could help.” Lena said.

“It’s okay if you cannot, Ms. Luthor.” Star Sapphire said. “Your willingness to try is enough.”

“Yes, that’s true.” Kara said. She realized she was being selfish, and that Lena was offering something very important.

“I agree. Lena, it means more than you might know that you would try.” Clark said.

“Kara means the world to me. Of course I’ll do what I can.” Lena said.

“Now that we’re almost finished with dinner, Ms. Luthor, I promised you more information on your illness.” Star Sapphire said. “And I have fairly urgent business elsewhere. If you don’t mind, I’d like to speak with you alone.”

 

#

 

“I’m not sure why Kara had to leave. Surely this involves her as well.” Lena was nervous, because Star Sapphire was looking at her with a mixture of pity and love, and she wasn’t sure why. Kara and Clark had both been reluctant to leave, but the woman insisted it was best.

“What I need to tell you is yours alone to hear.” The beautiful woman seemed to float as she stood near her, but Lena knew that was just an illusion. She gently combed Lena’s hair. “You will want to make decisions about your way forward that only you can make. Kara might be an undue influence on you. And I have much experience with undue influence, and understand its insidious power, even when well-intentioned. The violet Lanterns have made many mistakes in our existence, but we have pledged to put that right, and to ensure that we always act with the most selfless of loves possible. Tell me the story of how you believe you became ill.” 

Lena explained her kidnapping by Rhea, the Daxamite Queen, and her intention of marrying Lena to the prince Mon-El, and how Rhea tried to destroy the relationship between Kara Zor-El and her lover Mon-El.

“I see. The illness you carry was deliberately created, which you are aware of, yes?”

Lena nodded.

“This was not an uncommon trick for the Daxamite race. They have a reputation for hedonism and selfishness that is well-earned. And for many of their species, they pursued the concept of ‘aphrodisiac’ throughout the universe, seeking out whatever would enhance their romantic and sexual pleasure and conquests. This trick of marrying Czarnian flu with other DNA was one of their treasured discoveries, and deepest secrets.”

“What is it supposed to do?”

“The Czarnians were a peaceful and loving species, unlike their last surviving member, Lobo. The virus that attacked them took advantage of their docility and enhanced it, and when especially lethal it would shut their system down completely. The Daxamites recognized that feature of the virus and realized what they could harvest. They could trick any infected subject into imprinting on the Daxamite who infected them. It made the infected fall in love and lust with that individual, so that person could use them to their own ends. It seems that the Daxamite Queen intended you to imprint on her son, so he would have a mate.”

“But she said she could create children without us marrying. Why would she go to the trouble?”

“To keep him happy, I presume. To control him.”

“But it didn’t work. I didn’t fall in love with him.”

“You weren’t around him long enough for the imprint to work. And instead, it seems perhaps you have imprinted on the Kryptonian.”

“And the dreams that come true?”

“A side affect of the foundational DNA that keeps the virus stable.”

“Naltorian.”

“Yes. There are very few of them left. And the virus is rare, because the Czarnians are almost extinct as well. It takes great effort and expense to make this terrible trap.”

“How do I rid myself of this Flu?” Lena asked. Star Sapphire sighed and took her hands.

“This is where you need to make decisions for yourself, without concerning yourself with Kara Zor-El and what she wishes. You may choose not to cure yourself of this. You would continue to have these dreams, but you may live a long life. The stabilizing DNA may keep the virus from harming you. You would remain emotionally bound to the Kryptonian. With time it might be bearable for you to live apart from her if you choose. It would not be easy, but it is a path you could take.” Star Sapphire said.

“But there is a cure?” Lena asked.

“There is. But it is also not an easy route. The engineering of the virus was designed to shed itself from your body gradually if you give birth to the child of your imprinted mate. It would not happen completely with a single pregnancy, but with a second and definitely a third it would disappear from your system, and your imprint on her would go with it. You would need to allow the Kryptonian to impregnate you.”

“Good God.” Lena said. “This was something that Daxamites did? On purpose?”

“Yes. It was quite common with Daxamite royalty. They intended to spread their genetic material as widely as possible, but also to be rid of their lovers when they tired of them. Their infected victims would bear several children and then wish to leave when the infection was shed.”

“It’s horrific. It’s sex slavery.” Lena said.

“Yes. But not surprising for Daxam; slavery was a part of their culture. One of our missions as Star Sapphires has become to stamp out this practice. Fortunately it had almost died out with the destruction of the planet Daxam. But there are still a few who know how to achieve it. And as Queen, Rhea would certainly have known. It’s likely she who infected Mon-El’s many birth mothers.”

“Wait. What?” Lena asked. “Many?”

“Before the destruction of Daxam, Prince Mon-El had twelve children by seven different mothers. It is unknown how many of them survived the damage to their planet. But none of those women were married to the prince, so none of his children is an official an heir to his throne.” Star Sapphire said. She spoke as gently as she could, knowing that Lena was upset by what she was hearing.

“Kara’s heart will break if I tell her that.” Lena said.

“She will hear it eventually, if she interacts with those from other worlds, as you both have recently. Better perhaps if she hears it from you. But what Kara Zor-El feels should not influence your decisions. You have been manipulated against your will. You have to make decisions for yourself, Lena Luthor. And though you are fortunate that you imprinted on someone with a kind and gentle heart, you still have not chosen this path. The path forward from here must be your decision alone.”

The woman took her leave from Lena and exited her penthouse via the balcony, leaving Lena to try to process all that she had been told. 

Lena hadn’t even had a chance to tell Kara that she was incredibly, wondrously in love with her. How would Kara feel knowing that Lena’s love and attraction weren’t real? That they were a construct of Rhea’s evil design? It didn’t feel that way to Lena. But she couldn’t deny that she had felt only friendship, and a kind of platonic love, toward Kara before the invasion. She had been deeply grateful for Kara’s trust, and surprised and warmed by Kara’s loyalty when everyone else assumed she was guilty of something. But maybe those had been the beginnings of love? Were any of her feelings actually real? Because she couldn’t imagine spending a single day without Kara in it now. And it fell to her to tell Kara about Mon-El’s real past; another cruel trick from the Daxamites. There were so many ways to strike at Kara’s heart, and she felt sick thinking about it.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t ignore Kara’s feelings, though neither of them had official declared them to each other. Lena felt she owed Kara the whole truth. But was that the best thing for both of them?

Lena texted Kara that she wanted to spend the night alone. It wasn’t true at all, but she needed to work out what to say.

 

[Kara]: Okay. Whatever you need sweetheart. I’m here if you need me.

 

[Lena]: I love you, Kara. I just need to think something through.

 

Kara didn’t reply, and Lena worried, until Supergirl showed up on the balcony.

“You wouldn’t have said ‘I love you’ for the first time by text if you weren’t really upset.” Kara said, letting herself in the door. “You don’t have to tell me what Star Sapphire said, but I don’t want you to be alone all night. Let me hold you.”

“Okay.” Lena said, and let her in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've restored the original chapter with sex scene completely intact, since many folks have asked for the more explicit version to be reposted.
> 
> In my defense; according to the internet, the jury is out on whether using ejaculate as anal lube is adequate for penetration, so I'm make the case that Kara ejaculates an enormous amount. It's fiction. Just go with it.
> 
> And yes, anal sex has a risk for pregnancy. But Lena is not exactly acting rationally here, for obvious reasons. She is actually ill.


	20. Epiphenomenon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena explains the Czarnian Flu to Kara, and has another dream.

Kara held her all night, and though she could feel the Kryptonian drift into sleep because her breathing slowed, Lena laid awake thinking. She knew what she had to do. She just had to figure out how.

 

#

 

Lena cleared her schedule at 10:30am and locked her office door to make the phone call, hoping she would catch Lois Lane at her desk. But she was still startled and a little nervous that Lois actually answered.

“Lena?” Lois said. Lena could tell from her voice that she was surprised to see her name on her phone.

“Lois. I need talk to someone. ” Lena said.

“I’m assuming this is about Kara, right? A confidential call?”

“Yes. Mostly about Kara. And some not. I just… I don’t know who else to talk to.”

“You can talk to me, Lena. I don’t mind. Give me a second to shut my office door.” Lena heard her moving in her office, and then Lois returned to the phone. “Okay. Tell me what’s going on.”

Lena took a deep breath and plunged in, explaining her illness, how she had acquired it, and what she had learned from Star Sapphire about it, and how to cure it. 

“I know I have to tell Kara. I just… I’m afraid to. I’m afraid to hurt her.” Lena said.

“Lena, how do you feel about Kara? Virus or not, how does being with her make you feel?” Lois asked.

“I love her. I’m in love with her. She makes me laugh; she’s the only person in years who has done that. I can’t help but smile when I look at her. Her shyness, her boldness, her goodness; everything about her leaves me in awe. It wouldn’t be appropriate to describe the sex, but oh my God, she leaves me breathless.”

“Do you really believe that’s not real? That it will disappear if you’re cured?” Lois asked.

“I don’t. That’s the thing. I just can’t believe that what I’m feeling is all the result of a virus.” Lena said.

“I think you have to trust yourself. And Kara. You know her. You know she’ll be there for you. It’s awfully sudden for you to start spitting out babies, but… I really doubt she would say no, when the two of you are ready.”

“I’m afraid she’ll never want to see me again.” Lena said.

“I’ve known Kara a long time. She’s the sweetest, kindest person I know. And she is crazy about you. And what happened to you - this is not your fault. She might be upset by the situation, but there’s no way she will ever be upset with you. You didn’t choose this.”

“I know. But it still feels like I’m letting her down.” Lena said.

“She won’t feel that way. Just find a way to tell her.” Lois said.

“I will. Thank you. I’ve known what you’re saying is right; I just needed to hear it from someone else.”

“I don’t mind, Lena. You can call me any time. We do have some things in common, after all.”

 

#

 

Lena spent some time in the afternoon finishing the patent applications for the medical devices she intended to produce and sent them on to her team to review and file. Kara was still at CatCo, working on a story, though Lena saw on the news that she had taken a few minutes to help the fire department pry open a car to save an injured passenger.

Lena created a detailed outline of what her mother had been doing with her factories and gave Kara permission in an email to publish the story of what they had discovered. It would be an enormous CatCo exclusive, and Kara would get a front page byline. And it would expose Cadmus in a way that they had not yet been.

Then she spent an hour studying her mother’s plans for the advanced version of Lex’s war suit. She could see several flaws immediately, and spent some time drafting how to take advantage of those mistakes, as well as creating a new version of the suit without them. 

 

#

 

At the end of the work day, Lena found herself outside Kara’s apartment instead of her own. When Kara opened the door with a broad smile on her face, so happy to see her, Lena burst into tears.

“Hey! Hey, sweetheart.” Kara pulled her into the room and shut the door, taking Lena into her arms. “Tell me what’s wrong, Lena. I’ll fix it.” Kara said into her hair, rubbing circles on Lena’s back.

“This isn’t something you can fix, Kara.” Lena said. She couldn’t help the tears running down her face now; she was in a full-on ugly cry and wasn’t able to say much of anything.

“This is about what Star Sapphire told you, isn’t it? If this virus is going to kill you, I’m going to find a way to resurrect Mon-El’s mother and kill her again.”

“I really need the both of us to sit down for what I have to tell you.” Lena said.

Kara pulled them both to the couch and sat down next to Lena, holding her hands. “Tell me.”

It still took a long time for Lena to start, but once she did, the whole story came tumbling out. Kara said nothing and asked no questions as Lena talked, but the look of horror that crossed Kara’s face told Lena a lot as she finished explaining.

“All this time, I’ve been raping you. All the sex we had; none of that was consensual.”

“Yes, it was, Kara, and you were not. I consented to all of it.”

“But it’s not you saying yes; it’s this illness.”

“I don’t agree with that. I wanted it. All of it. I still want it. I want you. Desperately.”

“But how can you say that, when you’re being controlled?” Kara asked.

“I’m not a child. I’m not mentally incompetent. I know what I want, Kara.” Lena said.

“Because you’ve been made to want it. Before you were kidnapped by Mon-El’s mother, did you want to go to bed with me? Did that even cross your mind?” Kara asked. “Because I don’t remember you being turned on around me.”

“I had a thing for the suit. And the muscles. I assumed I didn’t have chance at Supergirl, so I repressed it.” Lena said in protest.

“So if I had made a pass at you, say, after the Medusa virus, you would have said yes?” Kara asked.

“I would have, yes. How can I know for sure, since you didn’t?” Lena said.

Kara had no answer, and she sat for awhile, thinking things through. “Fucking Mon-El. He had twelve kids?”

“That’s what Star Sapphire said. She said he hadn’t married any of the mothers, so none of them were official heirs. I’m sure she’ll confirm it, if you ask her.”

“I believe you. I just don’t believe him. Why did I think I could trust him, when he lied to me over and over? Daxamites.”

“I’m sorry, Kara.”

“It’s not your fault! None of this is your fault. You were the target because of me. All of this is my fault. I keep getting people I love hurt.” Kara said.

“I’m a Luthor. My life was going to be a mess whether I met you or not, Kara Zor-El. And at least I’ve had some happiness since I met you.”

Kara leaned back against the couch and threw her hands up. “Where on earth do we go from here?” She asked.

“I don’t know. Lois seemed to think we should figure it out together.”

“You told Lois?!” Kara was surprised.

“I called her this morning. I just wanted someone to talk to. I needed an aunt to give me advice. I’m sorry if that was a bad idea.”

Kara laughed just a little. “No. No, it’s not bad. I understand. Lois was a smart choice. She’s the one I call when I’ve messed something up.”

“It was nice to talk to her. I didn’t feel so alone.” Lena said.

“Lena. You’re not alone. You have me, too. I’ll help. I just… I don’t know how to move forward.”

“I don’t know. But I don’t know what I’ll do if you break up with me. I don’t know how I’ll manage, Kara.”

“No. I wouldn’t abandon you. I won’t. I just… I’ve been falling for you. Since we met, but especially now. And you don’t feel the same way.”

“I love you, Kara. I love everything about you. I don’t know how to convince you these are my feelings, and not an illness. Unless you knock me up.”

Kara laughed and looked at the floor. “That’s so ironic. We have to permanently tie ourselves to one another to find out if we should be together forever.”

“I’m so sorry, Kara.”

“It’s not your fault.” Kara said. She reached over and pulled Lena into her lap and rested her head against hers. Lena realized Kara was crying, and she couldn’t stop herself from doing the same, with her arms wrapped around Kara’s neck.

“Whatever we do, we try not to hurt each other, agreed?” Kara proposed.

“Agreed. We work together.” Lena said.

They sat together for a long time until there seemed to be no more tears to be shed. It was then that Lena realized something. Kara had a tent in her pants, pressing into her hip. Lena couldn’t help it; she started to laugh. Kara laughed too.

“I know. My boner doesn’t care about ethical dilemmas. It just likes you.”

“Honestly, I’m on the side of your cock with this one.”

“Really? You want to ignore my moral convictions and encourage my penis to act on irrational impulses?”

“I care very much about your moral convictions. But it occurred to me that it might a good thing if you let me borrow some of your sperm. For Kryptonian condom design. Which might actually help out not just the two of us, you know.”

“So, you want to give me a hand job, but for science.” Kara asked.

“If you want. It’s your decision.” Lena said.

“If you create a condom, are you going to want to have sex with me?”

“I always want to have sex with you. That’s not going to change. But you have a choice, too.” Lena said

“Just for tonight, can we wait? I think I need to be alone for tonight just to think about things.” Kara was pleading, and of course Lena couldn’t say no. She headed home to her own bed, worried about what might happen when Kara thought things through.

 

#

 

In this newest dream Lena was pinned underneath Kara, who lay on top of her, fully nude. They were in Lena’s room, with the brighter paint on the walls from the last dream, but the furniture was different this time. The bed faced the same way as it had in her last dream, and it seemed to be early in the morning, because light was just peeking through the curtains. Lena was wearing a silk nightgown, but the top was askew because Kara had her breast in her mouth, gently biting her nipple. The bottom of Lena’s slip was pushed up past her hips, as Kara worked her hand between the two of them.

“I knew you’d be glad to see me when I got back.” Kara said, referring to Lena’s wetness even before she slipped her fingers between Lena’s labia. “And I’m right. You are happy to see me. Can I?” Lena nodded, knowing what Kara was asking.

Her hands moved away from Lena, and Kara shifted higher while she pulled on the back of Lena’s knees so she slid in between her legs. Kara guided her penis into place and pushed the head between Lena’s lips.

“When did you get back?” Lena asked.

“An hour ago. I’ve been watching you sleep.” Kara did her first stroke really slow until Lena felt the glans touch her cervix and pull back. It was too slow and it was irritating; Lena like it fast and hard, but this was a compromise she had agreed to. She tried to enjoy the slow strokes out and in, and it was nice when the head hit her deep, but she needed more if she were going to come. The slowness drew it out so that Kara didn’t come so soon, which meant she could deposit more sperm directly where it was needed. The new super suit discarded on the edge of the bed was designed to increase Kara’s sperm motility, too.

Lena pushed a pillow under her back and wrapped her legs around Kara’s back, so she was at a better angle, and she knew it worked because Kara groaned and came for the first time, depositing as far inside her as she could. The pulsing of Kara’s ejaculating cock rubbing against her clitoris usually made Lena come too, but this time Kara found Lena’s clit with her thumb and rubbed it gently so they came at the same time. 

“Can you do more?” Lena asked.

“Yep. Just give me a sec.” Kara found her nipple again and sucked for awhile, and then Kara resumed the rhythm of thrusting into Lena. She moved faster on the second round, knowing that Lena needed it quicker and harder, but she was still careful to slow down and aim where it was needed when she came a second time. Lena knew all of this was ridiculous; Kara’s sperm count was so high it was unnecessary, but Kara took all this incredibly seriously and when she decided she needed to do her utmost to contribute to the pregnancy, Lena had no choice but to indulge her. It was on the third round that Kara finally began moving at the speed and force that Lena needed, the sound of their thighs slapping together, Kara grunting like an animal and the wetness moving between them as Kara rocketed in and out of her was what made Lena come a second time as Kara deposited a third load of ejaculate deep inside her.

Just then the door flew open, and Lena realized Kara had forgotten to lock it when she came home last night.

“Mama! Mama! Mama.” The small curly-haired child said, and then stopped when it saw Kara. “Mama said she would make me pancakes for breakfast.”

“Your mama is busy right now, sweet pea.” Kara said. “And it’s not time for breakfast yet. That’s two hours away.”

“I’m hungry now.” The child said.

“Baby, can you go back to bed for a little bit?” Kara said. “Mama Lena and I are talking. We’ll get breakfast after awhile.”

“It didn’t sound like talking. It sounded like Mommy was hurting you.” The child looked at Lena for reassurance.

“No, kiddo. I would never hurt your Mama.” Kara pulled free of Lena and wrapped the sheet around her waist. “Come on, sweet pea. Lets go back to bed for a little while.” Kara picked up the toddler and carried it out of the room. “I’ll get your picture books and you can look at them until it’s time to get up.” 

“Are you home now, Mommy?”

“I am, sugar pie. I’ll be home with you and Mama and you for a long time now.”

Lena laid and listened to Kara talking to their child until it was quiet, and Kara reappeared, locking the door behind her and discarding the sheet on the floor. Her hard on bounced against her stomach as she climbed back in bed.

“Now, where was I?” Kara said with a grin.

“You were in me, and you need to get back there, because I waited a long time for this.” Lena said.

Kara pushed Lena on her side and pushed her knees together. “Pull your knees up.” Kara said, and Lena did as she was told, exposing herself to Kara’s view. “There we go.” Kara said, slipping her penis inside Lena again. This time when she came with a deep moan inside of Lena, her cock went soft, and she lay heavily on top of Lena, spent. Lena enjoyed the feeling of the softening penis inside of her and the heavy weight of her spouse pinning her to the bed until she woke up later, in her room, alone.


	21. Resistojet rocket propulsion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara freaks out, and Lena digs in at work.

Kara didn’t call in the morning or during the day, so Lena went to work and dug in. Her medical device team had produced the first round of parts from the new factories and were assembling them in labs at the L-Corp office and testing the work. So far there were errors in all of it, but that was about what Lena expected.

Lena got a text from Kara late in the evening, explaining that she and Winn were working on a DEO project, and she couldn’t come by that night. Lena spent another night alone. This time she had no dreams at all that she could remember.

 

The next morning, Lena found an empty lab in the L-Corp production floor and began assembling what she needed to build her own design of her mother’s war suit. She talked to two members of the board of directors first, to let them know that all expenses for the project would be charged to her personally and not to the company, and to ask them to keep the project on a need-to-know basis. After half a day of work, she had a decent exoskeleton built and some of the circuitry installed.

Lillian Luthor might be locked up, but Metallo was still free. And Cyborg Superman was somewhere in National City as well. As long as her mother was still alive, Lena needed backup plans.

 

#

 

Kara felt bad for not calling Lena, but she was having trouble with what Lena had told her. She couldn’t get past the self-doubt and worry that maybe Lena didn’t really have feelings for her. It felt weird and wrong that perhaps some part of Lena hadn’t actually wanted all the intimacy they had shared, and that maybe the speed at which they had escalated that intimacy was Kara’s fault. People who had only been dating a few weeks didn’t go all the places that she had gone with Lena, did they? Lena had maybe been influenced by her illness, but Kara had no excuse.

Kara turned in her article on Cadmus’s illicit plans, and the next day she also finished a fluff piece that Cat Grant had asked Snapper for on the opening of a new clothing boutique in the swanky part of town. Snapper signed off on both pieces without making her edit, which either meant she had done a really good job or he just didn’t care about either piece and needed to fill space. It was hard to tell with him. Both of the articles were set to run in that week’s CatCo online.

There was a fire in the warehouse district at lunchtime, and Kara managed to get everyone out of the buildings and save a kitten in the process, a photo of which made the front page of the online edition, bumping her articles for Snapper below the fold. After the fire, she spent the rest of the afternoon and evening cruising around the city looking for other ways to help someone. This was usually when she would drop by L-Corp, but she shied away from the building. Cat Grant was out on her balcony with a glass of Scotch, though.

“Only you would knock your own front page bylines aside with a photo of yourself with a kitten, which is ridiculous, by the way. My friend opened that boutique and I really owe her the press because she’s making my gown for the next gala, so thank you very much for upstaging that.”

“Well, I wasn’t the CatCo photographer who took the photo. I just stood there with the kitten. So go downstairs and yell at the image department for that.” Kara said.

“Did you take that kitten home and give it to Lena in a sickening display of domestic bliss, or?” Cat asked.

“Actually, I sort of thought…” Kara pulled the small golden fluff ball out of a small bag and handed it to Cat, who tried hard not to take it, but didn’t succeed.

“This is entirely too cliche, especially for me. And why aren’t you seducing Ms. Luthor with this thing?” Cat held the kitten up and peered directly in it’s face, and the kitten did the same to her.

“Lena and I aren’t in a great place right now.”

“Really? That explains the vague phone call I got from Lois about ‘keeping an eye on you and making sure you aren’t acting like a jackass.’ So, stop acting like a jackass, apparently.” Cat said.

“I wish it were that simple.” Kara said.

“Well, spell it out for me. Or don’t. I can’t give advice based on vague phone calls from my ex-girlfriend, however well-intentioned they are.”

So Kara spelled the whole thing out. Cat looked completely flabbergasted when she was finished.

“Jesus Christ, Kara. No wonder you’re not ‘in a great place.’”

“I don’t know what to do.”

“Get over yourself, dum dum. None of this is about you. Lena is sick. She needs a cure. You know what it is. Get on it. Before she finds someone else to do it. I wonder if it has to be you that knocks her up or if anyone can? Did you even ask that question?” Cat said.

“I didn’t, no.” Kara said.

“Well, I’d offer to knock her up if I had the sperm for it, but unfortunately I’m not endowed in that department.”

“You would sleep with Lena?” Kara asked in amazement.

“You’ve seen her, haven’t you? She is gorgeous. I’m entitled to a mid-life crisis right about now. Unfortunately it wouldn’t have the outcome that she needs, so that’s not at all useful. I wouldn’t mind more kids if I didn’t have to have them myself. I wonder if artificial insemination would work?”

“I should probably go…” Kara stood up in a hurry.

“Don’t forget to take this…” But it was too late. Supergirl was gone, and Cat was alone with a tiny yellow ball of fluff.

“Now what am I going to do with you?” She asked it.

 

#

 

Lena was working late in her office when Kara finally called. She looked at screen, but ignored it. If Kara couldn’t bring herself to call for two days, she wasn’t going to answer now. Half an hour later, Lena heard the sound of a familiar engine, and it filled her with dread.

She went to the window and saw Lobo hovering outside on Spacehogg. He was pointing upward, and it took entirely too long for Lena to realize he meant for her to meet him on the roof. She nodded, and he zoomed upward. She climbed the stairwell from outside her office and propped the roof door open.

When he saw her, Lobo landed the vehicle and turned it off.

“Hello. This is a terrible time for me to leave Earth, you know.” Lena said.

“Yeah, well, no one’s asking you to. I had something else in mind.” Lobo said. “Don’t come closer, please.”

“I’m not.” Lena assured him.

Lobo tossed her the keys to Spacehogg, and she managed to catch them. “I made a new one. A little bigger. More room for someone to ride on the back. Not that this one is bad for that, but… anyway. I don’t need this one, and I thought you might like it. Since you know how to fly it.” Lobo climbed off the space cruiser and moved away from it, so Lena could get closer.

“You’re giving me Spacehogg.” Lena didn’t know what to think.

“Yeah. Why not? No one else can ride it. And I may owe ya one.”

“You do?”

“I have a date with Star Sapphire, so…”

“Oh. That’s nice. This is… I don’t know what to say. This is so generous.”

“Yeah, well. If you need to get to space, you can now. You might need that, sometime. Or just buzz by the Daily Planet and annoy Superman a bunch; that would be fun, too.”

“That would be fun.” 

The small spaceship that looked like a Mazda Miata suddenly appeared in the sky above them, piloted by the small green alien.

“Here’s my ride. But take good care of it. It’s my baby.”

“I will.”

Lobo hopped in the second seat of the strange spaceship and it zipped off into space.

She shouldn’t leave it on the roof. There should be room in the parking garage at her penthouse. Of course it would freak out the security staff, but that was a bonus, really. Lena ran down to her office to get her purse, then came back and climbed on her new ride. She could take a quick lap around town before heading home, right?


	22. Wyvern Industrial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara and Lena start to move closer together, but are sadly interrupted.

Kara texted Lena before bed, but Lena still didn’t feel like answering. She knew she had to eventually, but she was hurt and wanted Kara to feel the same way she did, just for a little bit. This was the third night she’d spent without Kara and it had almost started to feel normal again to be alone. But not quite normal.

 

Lena’s newest dream was short but terrifying. Lena was standing in a parking lot outside a shabby office building, watching Alex Danvers and J’onn J’onzz approach the building in SWAT team mode with a swarm of DEO agents. From around the corner of the building, Cyborg Superman emerged, with something like a rocket launcher or small cannon, which he fired at the agents. Lena watched in horror as the projectile hit Agent Danvers squarely in the abdomen, creating a hole she could see completely through. The look on Alex’s face when she realized she’d been injured was terrifying to Lena, but it became even more so when Lena watched as the life went completely out of her face before she fell to the ground.

Lena jerked awake with her heart racing, and barely made it to the bathroom before she threw up. She was cold and felt clammy, like she’d been in a sauna and then gone outside, and her knees and arms were wobbly, so she stayed on the bathroom floor for a while before she felt like getting up. 

Lena retrieved her phone and texted Alex. She knew it would be weird; she only had Alex’s number for Supergirl emergencies, but she was too afraid to wait until morning.

 

_[Lena]: Alex, this is Lena. If you find yourself in a parking lot with J’onn and a SWAT team near an old office building, please be careful. Wear body armor. Please._

 

It was a moment before Alex replied, but she did.

 

_[Alex]: Okay. Is this a dream you just had?_

_[Lena]: Yes. Please be careful._

_[Alex]: Is Kara there with you?_

_[Lena]: No._

_[Alex]: Do you need her to be?_

_[Lena]: No, I’m fine. Just freaked out._

_[Alex]: I will wear body armor. And be careful. Try not to worry._

_[Lena]: Thank you._

_[Alex]: Go back to bed._

_[Lena]: I will._

 

But Lena didn’t want to sleep, so she got up and turned on the television and watched old episodes of Match Game and What’s My Line, trying not to replay the dream in her head.

 

At Alex’s apartment, Maggie woke up because of the sound of Alex’s text notifications going off, and because Alex was sitting up with her phone glowing in the dark.

“Who is texting you in the middle of the night, and what would be the best way to kill them without being found out?” She said to Alex.

“Lena Luthor. She apparently had a dream and now I have to wear body armor to work.”

Maggie sat up. “She would not text you about that at this hour if she were not freaked out. What did Kara say about it?”

“Apparently, Kara isn’t staying there tonight.” Alex said.

“I thought those two were shagging on the regular. What the fuck is going on?” Maggie asked.

“I don’t know, but I promise I’m going to find out.” Alex said.

“Did she say what happened in the dream?”

“Apparently, me, J’onn, a DEO raid team in a parking lot next to a run down office building. She didn’t say more than that; except that I needed to be careful and wear body armor.” Alex said.

“I don’t like that at all, Alex.”

“Me neither.”

 

Lena stayed awake until 5 am, then got dressed and went to work. No one was in, but she worked on her War Suit until she got a message from Jess about her schedule for the day. She asked her to shift her appointments so she could continue to work in the lab. She wanted to see if she could get a working model of the suit finished by the end of the day. She calculated what she could leave out; A few features were still energy inefficient or would use too many resources, so she redesigned a streamlined model based on essentials.

Lena didn’t realize it was lunch time until Jess knocked on the lab door. Behind her was Kara in ‘Kara Danvers mode,’ with her hair pulled back and glasses on, white cardigan sweater over peach-colored dress. She was carrying a bag of donuts.

“Kara is here to see you, so I brought her down, since you aren’t in your office today.” Jess said helpfully.

“I see that. Thank you, Jess.” Jess gave her a look, and Lena realized that Jess had caught on to the tension between her and Kara, and Jess was definitely on Team Kara.

“I’ll just leave you two alone. Let me know if you need anything, Ms. Luthor.”

“I will Jess.” Lena said, and waited until her assistant left.

“Kara.” Lena said, continuing to work.

“Alex told me you had a dream about her last night. I just thought I should come by and see if there is anything I can do to help.”

“I don’t think so. I told her to take precautions. You should probably go on missions with her to make sure she’s safe.” Lena said.

“I do plan to do that. But I mean anything I could do to help you.” Kara said.

“I don’t think so, Kara. Donuts aren’t going to help much.”

“I thought maybe it would remind you of… never mind.” Kara dropped the bag on the lab table and moved closer.

“I’m sorry, Lena. I’m sorry I freaked out.” Kara said.

“You said we shouldn’t hurt each other, and we should work through things together, and then you did the exact opposite of that, Kara.”

“I know. I was a jackass, and Cat told me I was being an idiot. She told me to come and fix things.” Kara said.

Kara was fidgeting and playing with her glasses and tugging on her sweater in full-on goofy, unsure Kara mode. It was adorable, and it really pissed Lena off.

“Cat? Cat Grant? You told her about us? About me?”

“I… I needed advice. You talked to Lois.” 

“About my personal medical information, which you apparently also shared with Cat?” Lena said, with a hint of anger in her voice.

“I… yes. That was wrong too, I’m realizing. But she understood! And she told me it wasn’t about me, and that I should be doing what you need. I’m sorry! And I’m here for… whatever you need me for. Whatever decision you want to make, I’m here for you, to do what you need me to.”

Kara stepped closer to her and out from behind the lab table, and Lena realized suddenly that Kara had a hard on pressing against her dress. She was tugging on her sweater because she was trying to hide it.

“So you ghosted me for three days, and then gossiped about me with your boss, and then you show up here with donuts and a _boner_ , and you expect me to do what? Fall at your feet?” Lena asked.

“No! I don’t… I’m sorry about my… I’m trying to make it go away, but it won’t. I don’t know why it’s doing that. I just… I love you, Lena. I love you, and I’m in love with you, and I want to… do whatever you need me to.”

Lena stared at her for almost a minute while Kara fidgeted.

“All right.” Lena said, and went to a set of cabinets against the wall and started poking around in them. She located a metal cylinder and brought it back with her to the lab table. “Here.” Lena handed it to Kara.

“What is this for?” Kara asked.

“Open it. Jack off into it. Seal the lid and push the button so it freezes.”

“You want me to…” Kara asked, adjusting her glasses again as she looked at the cylinder.

“Give me your sperm. Yes.” Lena said.

“Okay. There are a lot of windows in this room, though, and…” Kara said, looking around.

Lena walked over and opened a door, which led into a small private bathroom. “Enough privacy for you?” She asked.

“I guess.” Kara walked in, and turned around as though she hoped Lena would be coming with her. Lena shut the door and went back to work with a tiny smile on her face.

It was just under fifteen minutes later when Kara emerged back into the room. She handed the metal cylinder to Lena, red-faced.

“I sort of need to get back to CatCo.” Kara said. “But, maybe I could come over tonight, and we could watch a movie?”

“I’m going to be working late on this, actually.” Lena said. “But if you want to call me tomorrow morning, we could get lunch together.”

Kara took in what Lena was working on for the first time, and it was obvious Kara had some concerns. She opened her mouth to say something, but decided against it. “I would like to have lunch, yes. That would be really nice.”

Kara gave Lena a quick hug and then scurried out of the room.

Lena waited until she was gone and grabbed the bag of donuts and looked inside. Kara hadn’t eaten a single one of them, and Lena realized she was starving.

 

#

 

“So to summarize this story,” Alex said, “you’re saying you went to see Lena at lunch to apologize. You offered her donuts and a hot beef injection, and she told you where you could stick it, and then made you jack off into a jar.”

Maggie sat on the couch silently laughing because Kara had her back to her. The three of them were in pajamas, under piles of blankets, eating pizza and watching Maggie’s favorite horror movie, but Alex had paused so Kara could tell them what happened at lunch.

“I did not offer her that! I mean the donuts, yes, but not the other thing. And it was an aluminum cylinder, actually.” Kara started to explain.

“Oh, I don’t think it matters what your sperm container was, dork.” Alex interrupted. “What matters is that you got your dignity handed to you by Lena Luthor.”

“It’s kind of sad that she’s probably not going to marry you now, Kara.” Maggie said. “Because I think she would be an amazing sister-in-law.”

“Yeah, you kind of blew that one for us, Supergirl.” Alex said.

“You think she won’t… I mean, she’s going to forgive me eventually, right?” Kara asked.

“She’s making you go to lunch with her. You are back at ‘Dating: Square One.’ You’ll be lucky if Cat Grant doesn’t decide to swoop in and do your heavy lifting for you.” Alex said.

“I thought you guys wanted to cheer me up.” Kara said.

“Oh, no. Tonight was to cheer us up.” Alex said. “And it’s working great. Wait till I tell mom about all this.”

 

#

 

Lena curled up on the couch in the lab and set her alarm. It was too late to go home, and she had already changed into scrubs. If she stayed she could get an early start and hopefully get caught up to where she had intended to be on the War Suit.

She had taken a couple of hours away from that project to test Kara’s sperm against standard condom brands. Kara was right not to trust them, because they swam right through the barrier. She was going to have to come up with something much more sturdy.

 

In her first dream, Lena woke up with the curly-haired blonde toddler on her chest. It was probably afternoon, and she was on the couch in her living room. Curled up below her on the floor was the white dog, snoring quietly. She heard the door open, and soon Kara poked her head into the room. She was wearing the new, more tactical-looking super suit again. She spotted Lena and came in, carefully lifting the sleeping toddler and relocating it to the playpen in the corner. Then Kara scooped Lena up and switched places with her, lying down on the couch with Lena on top of her. Lena curled up with her head on Kara’s chest and went back to sleep.

 

Lena woke up a bit and remembered she was in the lab, but drifted off again. In her second dream she was naked on top of Kara, who had her legs wrapped around Lena’s waist. Lena was pushing into Kara with a silicone dildo strapped to her with a leather harness, and Kara was breathless beneath her. The dildo also fit inside Lena and pressed against her clit as she thrust into Kara. She was trying hard not to go fast since Kara liked being penetrated gently, but she had trouble keeping a slow pace.

“Oh, Lena…” Kara said as she grasped Lena’s ass and held her tightly in place, stopping her movement. She could feel Kara’s orgasm against her as Kara’s abs and legs convulsed and Kara clamped down on the dildo inside her.

“Give me a second.” Kara said, holding Lena tightly against her. After a moment Kara relaxed her hold on Lena, and relaxed her body. “Okay. I’m ready. Do that more.” And Lena resumed pushing into Kara, thanking herself for the amount of yoga she did, considering she was going to be in a plank position above Kara for hours.

 

Lena woke enough to get up and use the Lab’s restroom and check the time. It was 3am, and she should try to get some more sleep if she was going to be functional tomorrow. She felt light-headed as she sat back down on the couch and realized she hadn’t eaten enough that day. She probably needed to get some fresh air and go for a walk in the morning, too.

She checked her phone to make sure the alarm was still set, and curled back up.

 

In her next dream, Lena was naked again, this time face-down, halfway on a bed she didn’t recognize. A hand she did recognize as Kara’s pressed into her back, keeping her pressed against the bed, and Kara’s other hand had Lena’s wrists pinned together so she couldn’t move. Her pussy was fully exposed and Lena was very, very wet.

“You should have known I would catch you in the act, Catwoman.” Kara said. “I don’t know why you thought you could rob Wayne Manor and get away with it.” Kara’s tone was slightly menacing, but with a note of playfulness in it, because Kara could never actually pull off pretending to be bad cop. “Unfortunately for you, I was planning a robbery of my own, so I can’t just arrest you. But I have my own way of punishing you. Spread yourself for me.”

Lena deliberately didn’t move, so Kara slid her knee between Lena’s and pushed her legs open. Lena was breathless with anticipation, expecting Kara to enter her, but she didn’t.

“Look how beautiful you are. It’s almost a shame how hard I’m going to go into you. And I didn’t bring a condom, either. You are going to be sore and messy when I’m done.”

Kara finally pressed her penis up against Lena’s labia, and Lena sighed a huge sigh of relief when Kara’s head slipped inside her vagina. Lena held her breath and breathed out as Kara finally bore down on her, and Lena came when the head slid across her g-spot, even though Kara had barely started.

 

Lena woke up from that dream completely aroused, and wishing she had agreed to see Kara that evening. She missed her so much it felt like it weighed on her. She would have to wait until tomorrow.

 

# 

 

Kara was nervous at lunch, unlike the commanding force she had been in Lena’s dream the night before, and Lena couldn’t help smiling at the difference between the two. Someday this fidgeting girl was going to pin her to a bed and pretend to be a ‘corrupt police officer with a heart of gold.’ Lena hoped. Most of her dreams hadn’t quite played out the way they had in her sleep. But she had been actively trying to stop many of them. Maybe that was the difference.

“You were right not to trust regular condoms. Your sperm swims right through the barrier. I tested quite a few brands with different materials, too. I’m figuring out alternatives, but I have to focus on my other project. But once I have a successful answer, I thought maybe you’d like to test it out with me.”

“Are you saying something like, a lab experiment, or are you talking about actual sex?” Kara asked.

“ Well, maybe some lab experiments at first, just to make sure it’s safe. But then actual sex. Your penis. My vagina. Moving back and forth.” Lena said.

“Yes! Yes please. I would like that.” Kara said, and the look that crossed her face made Lena want to laugh. 

“Good. I would like that, too.” Lena said. “We’ll figure this out, Kara. It’s just going to take some time.”

“I know.”

Food was delivered, and there was a pause in conversation as both of them ate, and in between bites, Kara told her about Winn translating the Klingon on the fake art space ship, and the plans to infiltrate the pro-alien human group.

“I don’t know. Maybe if they’re anti-Cadmus, you should leave them alone.” Lena suggested.

“I think J’onn just wants to be sure they’re not militant, or planning on harming anyone.” Kara said.

“I suppose.” Lena said.

“I could come over tonight, if you wanted. Just to be there if you have any more dreams.” Kara said.

Lena hadn’t narrated any of the ones from the night before, and wasn’t sure she should. She hadn’t told Kara about the toddler, because she was afraid of the subject herself. She wasn’t sure if she wanted it to come true or not.

“I would like that. But could we… can we hold off on being intimate and just spend time with each other?” Lena asked.

“Of course. Anything you need, Lena.”

 

#

 

“Ms. Luthor, I’m sorry to interrupt your work, but I need to show you something. It’s about Wyvern Industrial.” 

Jess knocked on the open lab door, and Lena finally realized it was late afternoon. She had worked straight through since her lunch with Kara, and the War Suit wasn’t nearly as functional as she had hoped. But she needed a break, and felt a little off, still. She’d had a full lunch and some sleep, but she was still feeling odd.

“This is good timing, Jess. I need to switch gears a little. What did you find?”

“The holding company that owns all the dummy corporations that trace to Wyvern Industrial. And I have an address. In National City.”

Jess and Lena were interrupted by another employee; a young man that Lena didn’t recognize. “Ma’am, there is news. You’re going to want to turn on the news. It’s Supergirl.”

“What about her?” Lena demanded, but he shook his head afraid to say more. He just repeated “the news” again before retreating.

There was no television in the lab or even on that floor, so Lena and Jess raced to an elevator to get to her office. Lena pulled up CatCo’s site on her phone, and the front page story was “Supergirl Kidnapped.” The vivid photo under the headline was of a limp Kara in her suit, unconscious and bleeding with green splatters over the front of her suit. She was being shoved into the side door of a black van by three men wearing black military gear, faces covered. The article said that Cadmus was claiming responsibility for her disappearance. 

Jess and Lena finally got to her office, and Jess turned on the television to see the same story and the same photo. Lena was on the phone to Alex immediately, but she wasn’t picking up. 

“Jess, pull up that address in maps on my laptop.” Lena said, trying her call again as Jess moved over to the desk. The news story explained that Supergirl had been called to the scene of an apparent grocery store robbery, but she was ambushed by an army of twenty men in black tactical gear and alien weaponry. She had knocked most of them out before being attacked by Metallo, whom she had fought for a long time over the rooftops before he blasted her with some form of liquid Kryptonite. She was scooped up and shoved in a van before any backup from the police could arrive to help.

The news anchors were speculating on whether Cadmus was actually responsible, noting that Lillian Luthor, the alleged head of the organization, was in jail, and that the prison had confirmed she was indeed present at their facility and had not escaped again.

“Ms. Luthor, I have it.” Jess said.

Lena looked at the map and realized it was in a run-down part of National City. She hadn’t ever been there. She clicked on the street view of the building, fully aware of what she would be seeing. The shabby office building from her dream, where Cyborg Superman had killed Kara’s sister.

Lena called Alex again, and this time she answered.

“Lena. Things are going crazy here. We’re looking for her.” Alex said curtly.

“I may have an address. It’s a holding company that owned the shell companies that owned Wyvern Industrial - the dummy chemical company my mother was running.”

“Tell me where.” Alex said.

Lena gave her the address. “That fits. We’ve got a GPS on Kara, but we weren’t sure if they found it and were running it as a decoy. But it’s headed that direction.”

“I’m looking at the building in street view, Alex. It’s the place from my dream. Cyborg Superman was in the dream. Hank Henshaw. He is the one that shot you.”

“We will be careful, Lena, I promise you.” Alex said.

“I know you will, Alex.” Lena said.

“I have to go.” Alex hung up abruptly.

 

“Jess, I’m going to need your help in the lab right now.”

“Okay, Ms. Luthor.”

“I need to get into that suit I’ve been building.”


	23. Lena Goes To War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena goes after the last of Lillian Luthor's people to save Supergirl, because no one kidnaps her girlfriend and gets away with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dang, action chapters are hard to write. This one took me forever, and I hope it makes sense. If not, wave your hands in the air and consider it magic. 
> 
> Fortunately, it's the last chapter of action scenes, because we're just a few more chapters from the end. Everything from here on out is fluff and smut.

If Lena had had time to finish creating the Mother Box, she could have fully powered the War Suit. But she had to make due with her own design for a solar battery, and the armor-plating was only half complete. It meant the suit would be lighter, but parts of her were only protected by forcefield, and she had to hope the power would hold enough to maintain it against anything her mother’s newest Metallo soldier could throw at her. She wasn’t sure what Cyborg Superman was capable of. For obvious reasons, there were parts of Lillian’s (and by extension Lex’s) War Suit designs that she had deliberately ignored or redesigned. 

There was no time for her to retrieve Spacehogg; Alex and her team were already en route. Lena took off from the roof of L-Corp, and the thrusters in her boots seemed stable enough, but she had to learn to lean forward and gesture with her gloves to steer, which was something she’d only partly tested in the lab. Several improvements were immediately obvious, but she had to shove those thoughts to the back of her mind as she sped over the city as fast as she dared with the untested thrusters. Kara was injured, and she might be dead. Or she might be undergoing torture at the hands of Lillian’s minions.

She had a nagging feeling that they were all being led to the shabby office building on purpose; they attackers weren’t even trying to flee National City with Supergirl. Surely they would have suspected her sister had a way to track her? This was a terrible plan, and she can’t imagine why her mother had put it together. Why not kill Supergirl at the scene? Why carry her away?

But whatever they were expecting, it was unlikely they were expecting Lena and what she was bringing to the table. And though her mother knew she and Kara were friends, she thought it was unlikely the woman understood the depth of their relationship, or how far Lena might go to protect her.

Lena arrived before the DEO, and scouted the building above for a few moments. Her force fields were fully engaged, but she added in reflector shielding that would help camouflage her and make her harder to spot.

There were guards, but they weren’t looking up, which was sloppy. They may have taken out Supergirl, but she had friends. She killed the thrusters and dropped quietly into the spot she had been in her dream, which was strategically sound. She could see where Hank Henshaw would emerge and could get between him and the DEO agents when they arrived.

Lena had never engaged in combat and was operating completely on instinct. She had used tasers and fired a gun, but what she had planned was entirely another level. She was nervous and jittery and felt as though she had drunk too much coffee. She should ask Alex to do some basic training in the future, so she could be sure she was never a liability in situations like these.

It was almost surreal when the DEO vans pulled up in the street and agents poured out of them from all sides. She saw Alex and J’onn, but was preoccupied looking for her target, and she spotted Hank Henshaw much sooner than she had in her dream. He had the rocket cannon but hadn’t raised it to fire yet, and Lena didn’t wait to let him - she pushed a button and shot off a fire blast that knocked it out of his hands completely, where it exploded, knocking out several men behind him.

Lena stepped out of hiding as Cyborg Superman turned to engage with her - she wanted his full attention on her and away from the agents. She took off, hovering ten feet off the ground, and fired four more fire blasts at him, knocking him backwards, but not completely off his feet. He returned fire with some sort of laser blast from his eye, but it bounced harmlessly off her forcefields and she smiled. Her reflectors were working fairly well; his shots were poor and he appeared to only guess where she was.

The other men in tactical gear working for her mother were firing in her general direction her now, but their weapons were harmless to her as well, and slowly the DEO agents were disabling them. Alex and J’onn had come prepared for Hank Henshaw too, and had some sort of advanced weaponry they were using to shoot him. Henshaw removed his coat and Lena realized that he had much more robotic circuitry installed since she had seen him last; he appeared to have a full armor suit. And on his chest was another addition - the crest of the House of El. Seeing it, knowing that he had no idea what it actually meant, made Lena enraged.

Take the fight away from the people. Superman’s credo, and Lobo’s advice; Lena shot up into the air, raining fire down on Henshaw so that he followed her into the sky. She did her best to evade his fire, and continued blasting him with fire blasts. Each direct hit beat him back, and she could see she was making progress disabling him, and he had yet to do any damage to her. But she couldn’t hope her suit would hold out for ever, or that some flaw wouldn’t surface. She decided to pull out a bigger weapon; she flipped switches and fired off an energy beam that caught him and crackled all over his suit, appearing to fry some of his circuits. 

Henshaw was barely functioning, but could still fly, could still come at her with his fists, and he did, intent on doing some damage directly.

Lena let him get very close to her, then engaged the energy spear and the super magnet, capturing Henshaw’s armor so he couldn’t move away from her. She pulled Henshaw close, and held her spear under his chin.

“Why are you doing this? Why try to kill Agent Danvers?” Lena demanded.

“Lex will be really proud of you when we tell him about this suit.” Henshaw said.

“Lex? Neither Lillian or Lex is dumb enough to kidnap Supergirl without killing her… anymore.” Lena said.

“I’m not going to tell you what we’re doing, Ms. Luthor. If you’re going to use that energy weapon, do it.” Henshaw said.

Lena could see he thought she wouldn’t kill him, and he was right. Except that he was wearing Kara’s family symbol.

“Why wear the symbol of a man you hate?”

“Because when we kill Superman and make Supergirl our pawn, the people will worship me instead of aliens.” Henshaw said.

Lena felt a spike of rage, and plunged the energy spear directly into Henshaw’s robotic eye. He convulsed as his circuitry was fried, and she thought it might be the end of his human body as well, but she wasn’t sure. Lena disengaged the magnet and let him go, and he fell fifty feet or so to earth, where he crashed in the parking lot. DEO agents swarmed over him, restraining him and checking whether he was alive.

There were still some of Lillian’s human team firing on the DEO from windows higher up in the building, but DEO agents had breached the entrances and Lena thought they might be working their way into the building. She sent stun blasts into the windows where they were shooting while she turned on her communication device and scanned for DEO channel until she could hear Alex giving orders.

“Agent Danvers. Cyborg Superman is disabled.” Lena said. “Your agents are collecting him.”

“Thank you.” Alex said. “Could you watch for anyone escaping the building? I’m afraid they’ll try to run with Supergirl.”

“Yes. Henshaw said they were working with my brother Lex. And we know there’s a new Metallo. If he emerges, I can handle him.”

“Thank you.” Alex said, and gave orders to her team.

Lena flew in a circle around the building watching the entrances. Sure enough, a man with a glowing green light on his chest emerged from the roof entrance of the building, and strode out to greet her. But this wasn’t just a random man that Lillian had chosen to become her new super villain. This was Maxwell Lord with the green glowing Metallo heart. No wonder he wanted to kill Alex.

“Where is Supergirl?” Lena demanded, turning off her reflectors and flying close enough to Lord so he could hear her.

“Safe and sound. I have plans for her. You could join me, Lena. What you’ve done here is really impressive.” Max answered.

Lena knew better than to get too close to him; she knew he was a metahuman, and could manipulate her thoughts if she were in the right proximity. That information was also part of Lex’s files.

“I don’t think you’re working with my brother, whatever Henshaw claimed.” Lena said. “You have too much ego to admit he’s your superior.”

Max wasn’t able to hide a grimace that told her he resented what she said, and she smiled. She was right; Lord was acting on his own, but had somehow convinced Lillian’s now-leaderless followers that he was working with Lex.

Metallo could leap great distances but not truly fly, and Lena hoped that was also true of Maxwell Lord’s version, because she could stay out of reach as she started firing fire blasts at him. They bounced off some force field he had, but she could see he was buffeted by them.

“I understood you were friends with Kara Danvers, but I had no idea you were friends with Supergirl, Lena. Or did you know they were the same person?”

“Where did you get the Kryptonite, Lord? Did you make yours, too? You know synthetic is inherently unstable. John Corben learned that the hard way.” Lena fired more blasts at him, and he wasn’t able to control his temper; he fired Kryptonite energy beams at her that crackled across her war suit.

“I know more about creating Kryptonite than anyone alive, including Lillian Luthor. I wouldn’t put this in my chest unless I was certain.” Max said.

He fired several more blasts of energy at Lena, not realizing something critical - she was absorbing the Kryptonite energy into the solar battery of her suit, where she converted it into earth’s energy. He was recharging her every time he fired at her.

“You’re dumber than I thought you were, Max. You should realize I’m not my brother. Or his mother.”

Lena landed directly in front of him and began punching him repeatedly with the enormous gloves of her war suit. Lord staggered backward. He touched a communication device in his ear, and called out “Now!” and the rooftop door opened, and dozens of his men poured out, wheeling a cart on which lay Supergirl. She was covered in tubes and wires connected to her, and Lena could see she had been the subject of some sort of experiment.

When Max saw Lena’s expression of horror at what he had done to Supergirl, he laughed.

“I guess she is your friend, isn’t she? That’s too bad, because she’s in bad shape. Now are you going to save her, or fight me?”

Lena muted her com so he couldn’t hear, and said “Alex, on the roof.” Doing her best not to move her lips.

“On our way.”

“Max Lord.” Lena said, and hung up. She could only hope Alex got that. She fired fire blasts at Max Lord repeatedly while shooting lasers at his employees surrounding Supergirl. He continued to shoot Kryptonite beams at her, and she felt the surge of energy as he kept powering her up. She was taking out his employees one by one at the same time she held him at bay, and he was becoming increasingly agitated, trying to understand what was happening. He shot a laser at her, but it too was powered by Kryptonite, and she absorbed it harmlessly. The look on his face when he finally realized what Lena had done to her War Suit filled Lena with glee. Lord was casting about helplessly for a weapon that wouldn’t make her stronger as she continued to hit him, before he remembered he had a handgun. He started firing that at Lena, but the bullets bounced away.

Alex Danvers reached the roof entrance followed closely by J’onn Jonzz, and for a few moments they were pinned down under gunfire, until Lena fired more laser blasts at Lord’s men and they finally scattered, pursued by DEO agents. Lena turned her attention back to Lord.

Desperately, Lord tried something new; he fired a gunshot and a Kryptonite blast at her at the same time. Lena hadn’t prepared for that; somehow the bullet kept her from absorbing the energy. It also knocked out the forcefield around her head.

“There we go. Finally.” Max said as Lena took to the air to swerve his gunshots while continuing to fire at him. She knew it might knock out a lot of her power, but she decided to stun him with a full energy blast, which knocked him off his feet, and the gun went skittering across the pavement.

Lena landed and advanced on him, determined to remove the source of his power from his chest one way or another. Lord scrambled back to his feet, and shot Kryptonite blasts at her, hoping to hit her head, but she dodged them.

“You really are Supergirl’s friend, aren’t you?” Max said in wonder as he retreated backwards.

“Oh, we’re much more than that, Lord. You have no idea.” Lena said. She kept advancing, because she could see something he couldn’t. Supergirl was awake and up from the gurney she had been strapped to, and she was coming up behind Max Lord.

Lord laughed at Lena when he realized what she meant. “Thank God I’ve never let sappy, sentimental love get in the way of my plans. It looks pathetic.” Kara took an enormous swing, crashing her fist down on Lord’s head, and he fell down unconscious.

Lena darted forward then and tore the Kryptonite heart out of his chest. He immediately lost power. Lena dropped the heart into a lead-lined bag concealed in the armor plate of her leg so it wouldn’t affect Kara.

“Thank you. That is so much better.” Kara said.

Lena looked around and saw that the DEO agents had captured and subdued all of Lord’s minions.

“What on earth was he doing to you?” Lena asked, looking over the wires and tubes covering her girlfriend.

“I really don’t know. Trying to figure out how to make more of me like he was last time? I have no idea.” Lena wanted to grab her and hug her, but she didn’t have a chance.

A black helicopter arrived, and Lena realized that this was Lord’s exit strategy. They looked at the scene on the rooftop, though, and started to fly away. 

Lena realized that Kara had no powers at all. The only one who could go after the helicopter was her. She took off, but didn’t get far, before she felt a sense of vertigo. Her head felt loose on her shoulders and she couldn’t control the direction of the thrusters. She had left off autopilot features, which was a mistake she realized, just as she felt herself falling, and blacking out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I restored chapter 19 as it was originally for the folks who have asked for it. :)


	24. Propositional Theory

Watching Lena fall out of the sky was terrifying; all the more so because Kara couldn’t do anything to stop it. She was powerless; couldn’t fly or use her super strength to catch her, or even be close enough to see whether she was alive.

Fortunately the suit did stop it. It still seemed to be functioning, because it halted Lena’s fall just before she hit the rooftop, and she hovered slightly above it, enough that Alex and J’onn could race over and turn Lena so they could see her face. Kara moved in that direction, but she couldn’t move quickly. She had been exposed to Kryptonite for hours, and felt like she had been injected with it as well. 

“How is she? Is she injured?” Kara asked.

“I don’t think so. But something is really wrong. And I can’t figure out how to get her out of the suit.” Alex said.

“Lena. Lena can you hear me, sweetheart? I’m here.” Kara said. There was no response. Lena looked more pale than Kara had ever seen her. “Give me your phone, Alex.” Kara said.

Alex handed it to her, and Kara called Jess.

“Agent Danvers?” Jess said.

“This is Supergirl. How do we get Lena out of the suit? She’s unconscious.”

“I’ll be right there.” Jess said.

“Do you know where we are?” Kara asked.

“I’m across the street. I followed her. I couldn’t help it.” Jess answered.

“We’re on the roof.” Kara said.

“I know. I saw.” Jess said, and hung up.

“Alex, tell your guys her assistant Jess is coming up here.” Kara said, and knelt down next to Lena and stroked her face.

“Kara, it is really freaking me out that you have tubes sticking out of you and your skin is gray. Could you please lie down?” Alex said, once she was off the comm with her team.

“I’m fine, Alex. I don’t have powers, but I feel fine.” It was a blatant lie, but Kara managed to keep her balance while saying it, so she assumed it was convincing.

Jess arrived, escorted by two DEO agents. She had a remote control that allowed her to power off the suit and release Lena from the armor.

“Oh, thank Rao.” Kara said, when Alex and J’onn could lift Lena onto the gurney that Kara had been carried to the roof on.

Two DEO agents came to carry Lena’s suit away as they wheeled the gurney to the staircase, but Jess stopped them.

“No. That’s mine. That’s L-Corp property, and I’m in charge of it. I’m taking it with me.” Jess ordered. The agents stopped, but they looked like they were going to argue with her.

“Yes. She’s right. That belongs to Lena Luthor, not the DEO. You can carry it downstairs, but it goes with Jess.” Kara said to them. The agents looked at Alex.

“Do what Supergirl says.” Alex said. 

Kara followed the gurney downstairs and into the elevator, with Jess, Alex, the War Suit and two DEO agents all climbing in after her. She held Lena’s hand. Lena was breathing, but that was her only movement.

“There are cameras outside, Supergirl.” Jess said. “I’m afraid if they see you like this…”

“The media is here?” Alex asked. That was the last thing they needed.

“No, it’s some other group. But… there is footage online already of some of it.” Jess said.

“Great. We’ll have agents keep people back so we can get in a DEO van.”

“Agent Danvers… We still need to go through this building and clear it for Cadmus activity.” J’onn reminded her.

“I know that, but I can’t really leave Supergirl or Lena alone.” Alex argued. “I need to go with them.”

“Dr. Danvers is at headquarters. She should be able to take the patients.” J’onn said.

“The helicopter?” Kara asked. It had disappeared after Lena fell.

“Winn sent drones after it. I’m hoping they kept up. He should be monitoring them. You don’t need to worry about anything but yourself and Lena. Let us take care of the rest.” J’onn said to Kara.

The group outside filming was some sort of protest group with signs, but Kara did her best to hide while they loaded her and Lena into a DEO van and took off toward headquarters.

 

To Kara’s dismay, Eliza wanted to look after her first. 

“Lena is unconscious, Eliza.” Kara said.

“Honey, you have tubes sticking out of you. I have no idea what’s going on here. And Lena has people looking after her.”

“You could at least have us in the same room so I could see what’s happening to her.”

“They need to focus on her and I and you need to focus on you. I’m going to have to put you under so I can take a look at what Maxwell Lord was doing to you.”

“It’s just… I’m in love with her, mom. I’m terrified about what’s happening to her.” Kara said. 

Eliza combed her hair back. “I understand, honey. I’m going to keep an eye on her, I promise.”

 

Kara woke up in a recovery room post surgery, under the sun lamps that recharged her. She felt better, but she still didn’t have powers. She could feel her skin healing. But she did have Lena, who was in a bed right next to her. She was either still unconscious or asleep, and Kara couldn’t get up to go to her, but they had pushed the bed close, so Kara could see her. If she reached out, she could just touch Lena’s hand, so she did, and curled up and went to sleep again.

 

Eliza was taking blood from Lena the next time that Kara woke up. “How is she?” Kara asked.

“Better. But we don’t know why. When she was brought in, the virus was no longer inert in her system, it was attacking her cells. But it seems to have calmed now. I’m just drawing more blood to see if there’s more change since we checked last. Maybe adrenaline causes the virus to attack?” Eliza said.

“It didn’t seem to do that when she went after Brainiac. She wasn’t great after that, but it wasn’t like this.” Kara said. “I actually have a theory.” Kara explained her thoughts to Eliza.

“That could be.” Eliza said. “We could perform some very controlled tests.”

“Maybe when she wakes up, we ask her.” Kara said.

“I still don’t understand what Max Lord was doing, Kara. The tubes were connected to major nerve centers. I don’t know if he was testing your nerve reaction, or trying to damage you. I removed everything, but we’ll need to text your reflexes and your sensory functions.”

“I feel like everything is working. I’m just tired.”

“Well, your skin is no longer gray. I think you’re getting rid of whatever Kryptonite radiation you had in your system.”

“Hopefully I get my powers back soon.”

“J’onn and Alex are looking after the city while you’re gone. Cat Grant released a statement that you were safe and recovering, but I don’t know how much it helped. And the city is in an uproar over Lena.”

“Why?” Kara asked.

“Well, there seems to be video footage of her fighting Hank Henshaw. And beating him. It’s hard to see, but in some of it you can definitely see her face, so people are figuring out she was wearing an armored suit. L-Corp is getting a lot of questions about whether she’s becoming Lex.”

“She won’t like that at all.” Kara said.

 

Kara was staring at Lena, holding her hand when she eventually woke up. She was beautiful; Kara watched the curve of her lips as she breathed, eyelids closed and lashes fanned out across her cheeks. Her hair was wild across the pillow; someone had pulled out the bun and let her hair loose, and wisps of is curled across her face in contrast with her pale skin. Lena had color in her cheeks and lips, though; she had stopped looking like a ghost. She looked peaceful and it make Kara feel happy. She knew as soon as Lena opened her eyes the look of perpetual sadness would drift across her features, and she didn’t want that for Lena anymore. There had to be some way to take that look away permanently, and that was firmly on Kara’s “to do” list. 

When Lena’s eyelids fluttered open, her first look was one of confusion, but she quickly noticed her hand was being held, and when she glanced up at Kara she smiled the deep, happy smile that Kara adored.

“You’re not gray anymore. You look much better.” Lena said.

“You’re beautiful.” Kara said.

“Yes, well, hospital gowns are so flattering. I should consider this in a line of daywear for work.” Lena said, rubbing the rough cotton between her fingers.

“I’m pretty sure mine makes me look very sexy.” Kara said.

“It does. I would climb over there except that I’m so incredibly tired I can’t move. I’m not sure what happened to me.”

“You blacked out, apparently, and fell out of the sky and scared the crap out of me.” Kara said.

“Yes, but I don’t know why. Although I haven’t felt well. I thought it was lack of sleep and stress. ” Lena said.

“Maybe. Lena, I’m thinking about something you said that Star Sapphire told you. She talked about your option of living with the virus and not doing anything about it. She said something about us being apart?”

“‘With time it might be bearable for you to live apart from her if you choose’ is what she said.”

“I assumed she meant emotionally. But what if she didn’t?” Kara asked.

Lena considered that for a moment. “What if we can’t actually live apart?” Lena asked. “I’m getting sick because we weren’t spending time together?”

“Maybe?” Kara said. “Eliza thinks we could do some controlled tests to see. Move us away from each other for awhile.”

“Not yet. I just want to be here with you.” Lena said.

“That’s all I want, too.” Kara said.

They laid together and just looked at each other for a while. Kara could see Lena’s eyes were fluttering closed again.

“Go back to sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up.” Kara said.

 

Lena woke up to a dream of her on a spaceship. Judging by the prominent L-Corp logo on the wall, it was her own, so she didn’t panic. Looking around the stateroom she could see she wasn’t the only resident; there were two sets of luggage and clothes strewn about that were decidedly more Kara’s style than her own. 

She stood up to look out the window, and realized they were in orbit around a planet with a bright red sun. Below them, she could see the lights of a tiny city.

Kara came in. “You’re awake!” Kara said. “We’re close enough to see Kandor now, can you see?” Kara put her arms around Lena and the two of them looked at the view. “You did this, Lena. All of this is you. I can’t tell you what it means to me.” Kara hugged her tight, and pressed her face to Lena’s cheek.

“I can’t wait for you to meet my mother. She’s going to love you. And this one, too.” Kara put a hand on Lena’s stomach, and Lena realized that she was pregnant. 

She woke up in the same DEO recovery room. Kara was awake, dressed in standard DEO tactical clothes, and she was eating a slice of an enormous pizza from a nearby counter top.

“Oh, thank God. I’m starving.” Lena said, and got up, carefully wrapping her hospital gown around her. She made her way to the pizza and picked a slice to eat.

“Your viral load is back to normal, mom says. It seems like you are stable again.” Kara said.

“That’s good. Do you have your powers back?” Lena asked.

“No. I think it will be a while. But I got sick of sitting around under the sun lamps.” Kara said. “If we figure out that you’re getting sick when we aren’t together, we should consider moving in together, at least part time.” Kara suggested. She watched Lena’s face to see her reaction.

“I guess if you’re willing to offer that when I look like this and haven’t showered in I don’t know how long, I should probably accept.” Lena said.

“You look fine, Lena. I know we haven’t been dating that long, but one of the advantages to living with me is that I can clean house in less than 30 seconds.”

“I have maids for that, actually.” Lena said.

“Okay then. How about ‘I go down on you every day and twice on weekends’?” Kara offered.

“Really? By all means. Move in right away.” Lena said.

“There is something else I want to bring up, actually.” Kara said, “I love you. I would love to live with you. I never want you to not be in my life, so that’s not exactly a hardship for me. But I also worry about what would happen to you if something happened to me.” 

“What are you saying, Kara?”

“No matter what happens, we have to be in one another’s lives. We haven’t been given a choice. But we could choose to make you healthy again. We could have a baby together, if that cures this illness. You have plenty of resources. I’m great with kids. It would be tough, but I think we could do it.” Kara said.

Lena was quite for a long time before she spoke. “I never planned on having children. I didn’t want them to grow up like I did.”

“I can’t see the future, but I know if we were the parents, our kids would have a happy home, Lena.” Kara said. But Lena could see the future, and it scared her.

“You said Eliza worried about Earth mothers and Kryptonian babies.” Lena said.

“That’s definitely an unknown. I suppose we could monitor closely and see what might happen. And if it turns out you are in danger…” Kara said.

“I need to think about this, Kara.” Lena said. 

“I know. I just want you to know, I would be there for you. I know the hard part would be all yours. But I would be there every step of the way, if you decide you want this. Or, you know, Cat Grant offered to knock you up if I didn’t, so that’s always on the table.”

“What now?” Lena said.

“She said that when I was explaining your situation to her. She asked if I had to be the one that got you pregnant, or if someone else could. She was contemplating artificial insemination. I’m pretty sure she was trying to give me a kick into pants to do the right thing.”

“Well, I didn’t realize there was a CatCo option. Now I really have to weigh my choices, don’t I?” Lena said, tugging on Kara’s hand until she leaned forward so Lena could kiss her.

“You aren’t worried that my imprint on you will fade? That my feelings might change when it did?” Lena asked.

“I’d rather you be healthy.” Kara said. “My feelings won’t change, and your health is more important to me than worrying about how our relationship might turn out. We might be together, or we might be great co-parents with other options.”

“It’s a lot to think about.” Lena said.

“I know. And it’s entirely your decision. I just want to make the offer. I’m here, if that’s what you need.”

Lena moved closer to Kara so she could wipe pizza sauce off her chin. “Right now, what I really need is a shower. And to find if there is a set of these sexy black clothes for me somewhere in this building.”


	25. Krypto

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a whole lot of sex, really, and tying up loose ends.

Kara went back to work as soon as possible, hoping that Cat had somehow covered for her absence with Snapper Carr.

It turned out that Snapper himself had been out sick all week with a cold, and several of the stories she had been developing were mysteriously completed, with ‘comments’ from Cat in the margins. Kara turned them in, and went to knock on Cat’s door.

“Press conference this afternoon. The people need to see Supergirl swooping in to save the day.” Cat said, waving her in.

“I can’t. I don’t have my powers back yet.” Kara said.

“Fine. Then we’ll put you on camera here in my office and I’ll interview you. We’ll make it work. An exclusive for me. Where’s Lena? I expected to hear from her PR people before now. She’s going to want a conference of her own, I’m sure.”

“Actually, it might be a good idea for you to interview us at the same time. She basically saved me. We haven’t made it public yet, but it was Max Lord who kidnapped me. He made himself into Metallo.”

“Are you going to make that public? Because I would kill for that story.”

“I don’t know yet. The DEO has to hand him over to NCPD, and they’ll have to figure out how to charge him.”

“I can see how that would be a problem. Is it a crime to turn yourself into a super-powered being? Is it a crime to kidnap an alien? The law is murky. I suppose they could come knocking on Lena’s door, too.” Cat mused.

“Lena definitely didn’t commit any crimes. She was there to save me from Cyborg Superman, and from Cadmus. Or what remains of Cadmus in National City. Max Lord convinced them that he was working with Lex in prison.”

“Well, if the two of you can be here in my office at 6 tonight, I’m sure it will make riveting television, no matter what you tell me.”

 

#

 

After showing the video footage of Lena fighting Hank Henshaw that the pro-alien group had posted online (and that CatCo had rebroadcast over and over on their news programming) Cat asked Lena Luthor on camera about what they had just seen.

“I promise you, I have no desire to put on a flying suit and fight villains every day.” Lena said to Cat Grant, and to the camera person hovering above her shoulder. “That was a one-time thing, because I knew Supergirl needed help. I have a job running L-Corp, and I enjoy it. The suit is a prototype we’re working on for some new projects involving space travel. It wasn’t meant to be used at all, and definitely not like that.” 

“So you’re not making a change in profession.” Cat asked.

“I will be leaving the crime fighting to Supergirl. It’s too much excitement for me.” Lena said.

“I can’t thank Lena enough for what she did.” Supergirl told Cat, the camera turning to focus on her. “She saved me, and several members of the government as well. She prevented several deaths, and helped round up some of the worst terrorists in National City.”

“So it’s safe to say that the two of you are friends?” Cat said.

Supergirl spluttered the way she did when caught unawares, but Lena rescued her.

“Supergirl had saved my life several times, so of course I consider her a friend. And felt I should return the favor when I had the chance. But really, Supergirl is friends with everyone in National City, if you think about it. Think about how many people she saves, and how often you see her responding to a crisis. Many of you have met her when she did something kind or brave for you. That is true friendship.” Lena said.

“So what are your plans for space travel, Ms. Luthor?” Cat asked. “That’s an interesting new development from L-Corp.”

“Oh, nothing serious. Just me dabbling at this point. The whole company is still focus on our green energy initiatives and on producing no-cost medical devices for emergency aid relief. Those are our official products. The rest is me goofing off in a lab.”

 

#

 

“God, you look great in that dress. I’m sorry you had to wear it on television instead of out on the town.” Kara said. Lena had worn the gorgeous green dress she had purchased in Metropolis when they went shopping. They were back in Lena’s apartment, ordering dinner.

“I can still wear it out on the town. I don’t wear things once and then throw them away, you know. And since you can’t tear it when you take it off me right now, I’ll definitely be wearing it again.”

“I get to take it off you?” Kara asked, excited.

“Of course. I’m curious what sex with an earthbound Kryptonian is like.”

“Oh, just as good as the other kind, I promise.” Kara said, getting to work on the zipper at Lena’s back as she kissed her way across Lena’s neck.

And it was. Even a non-super-strength Kara could still pick her up and toss her on the bed, and fuck her hard with her fingers until Lena came.

“I will finish the condom project, I promise.” Lena said, stroking Kara’s hard-on pressed up against her thigh. 

“It will be a moot point in a few days anyway, since it’s the end of my cycle. You’ll have a month to work it out.” Kara said, breathless as Lena’s hand moved over her.

“Speaking of your change in cycle, what do you think about me using a strap-on on you?” Lena asked.

Obviously, Kara thought it was a good idea; she came in Lena’s hand. “I guess that answer that question. I need to do some shopping.” Lena said, flicking Kara’s nipple gently before sucking on it.

“I could help.” Kara offered.

“I’m sorry; I get to pick out my own dildo. I don’t need advice. I have a good idea what I need,” Lena said. “Turn over; I want you on your back, sweetie. I just realized you can’t break my fingers having an orgasm, and I need to take advantage of that.”

 

#

 

Lena did choose well; it was slim because Kara didn’t need more than that, and ridged to rub against her g-spot. Even the harness was a turn on for Lena as she put it on and looked at the black leather against her hips. They had to be careful what position they used, because Kara’s powers had returned and she had a tendency to clamp down with her thighs when she came. So often Lena fucked her from behind, or with Kara’s legs over her shoulders where she wouldn’t be as likely to have the same muscle contractions.

True to her promise, Kara went down on her every day, usually in the morning when they woke up. Lena never quite got used to seeing the gold mane of hair between her legs, and Kara’s smirk as she worked over Lena’s clit with her tongue, blue eyes watching Lena lose her mind at how quickly she could flick back and forth. Sometimes the image would pop into Lena’s head in the middle of the day and she would have to excuse herself.

Lena leaving work before 7pm was a revelation to her employees, but Lena needed to be home for Kara. In the evenings, Lena would return the favor and perform cunnilingus on Kara, and then Kara would ask Lena to fuck her, almost always with Lena’s new toy. 

“I know we always do this, but I like it.” Kara said, as she bounced up and down on the dildo with Lena under her. “We can do something else after I…” and she stopped and came hard, clenching the silicone toy harmlessly. She curled up and put her head on Lena’s chest to recover.

“I actually have an idea of something else. We’d need the bottle of lube out of the drawer.”

Kara retrieved it. “If you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking, you can’t really hurt me…”

“But it will be easier.” Lena said. “If you’re okay with trying it.”

“You let me, so…”

“It’s not a quid pro quo, Kara. I don’t want you to do something just because I did.”

“No, I want to.”

“You didn’t do this with Mon-El?”

“Not this. I did it to him, but… Oh, wow. That is different, but…” Lena had gently worked the head of her dildo into Kara’s anus after applying lube, and Kara sat back on her heels and let it slide completely in.

“I wonder if you have a prostate gland?” Lena asked.

“I do…” Kara said and lifted up until she was in the right spot. “Oh, wow. This is unlike…” Lena reached out and stroked Kara’s clitoris and she came hard. Kara slid herself off the toy and curled up near Lena. “That was really intense.”

“It was okay?” Lena asked.

“It was more that okay. It was amazing. I don’t think I can do that all the time, though. Sensory overload.” Kara said.

“Okay. You let me know.” Lena said, kissing her forehead.

 

#

 

“Yes, Maggie and I bought a boat together, sister dear, which you would know if you didn’t spend every single second shacked up with Lena Luthor and ignoring you friends and family.” Alex said.

Alex was standing in DEO headquarters, showing pictures of the boat to Winn, who had some sailing experience and was offering them lessons, when Kara walked in, just back from an emergency in the warehouse district.

“I don’t… We’re not…” Kara said, casting about for some way to protest without actually lying about what she and Lena did all the time.

“Oh, don’t get upset. Maggie and I did the same thing until we got it out of our systems.” Alex said. “And now we’re on the ‘we’re buying stuff together’ phase.”

“But a boat, though?” Kara said, flipping through the pictures.

“It was this or a dog, and I don’t want to deal with house training. If you and Lena ever manage to come up for air, we’ll take you out in the harbor for beer and sailing.”

 

#

 

Lena found a substance that Kara’s sperm couldn’t penetrate, but that was thin enough that they both could feel sensation, and safe for them health-wise. It felt a bit like cheating that she used knowledge of scientific compounds from Brainiac’s collected knowledge of the universe, but she consoled herself that she would have arrived at the solution herself. Eventually. 

She crafted a condom roughly the dimensions of Kara’s penis and then duplicated it a number of times. They would have to test and adjust, but she was anxious to try it out, so much so that she didn’t bother with making plans for dinner before Kara came in the door from work.

“Snapper was in a mood today. Geez. I have to re-write an article for a third time, because he still thinks I’m too biased. And it’s about turtles! At the zoo! How is that biased? Just because I like turtles. Who is against them?” Kara said, dropping her briefcase and purse on the table in Lena’s hallway.

It took her a moment to realize that Lena was in her robe, and nothing else, and holding…

“Is that what I think it is?” Kara said.

“Yes, it is.” Lena said, biting her lip.

“Oh, Rao.” Kara shed her clothes in three seconds. She had Lena pressed up against her, arms around her under her robe, kissing her fiercely.

“Gently, Kara.” Lena said, because Kara hands on her breasts were a little too rough, and Kara slowed down her pace. “We have all night long to try these out.”

“I’m sorry! Just excited.” Kara said. “I get to be inside you. I’m so happy. And you’re excited, too, I can tell.”

“I can see you’re happy.” Lena said. Kara was already hard and leaking pre-cum from the slit in her penis. “You should put this on before we go any further.” Kara slid the condom on, and then had Lena pressed against the wall.

“The bedroom…” Lena started to say, but Kara had lifted her up and wrapped Lena’s legs around her waist, and pressed her against the wall in the hallway. 

“Can I put it in?” Kara asked, holding her penis at Lena’s entrance. Lena looked at her face, so happy and eager. She wrapped her arms around Kara’s muscular shoulders and nodded. 

“Of course. Please…” Lena said. It was wider than Kara’s three fingers, wider than anyone Lena had had, but the lubrication from the condom helped, and Lena felt her muscles relax to allow Kara’s cock into her vagina. Kara pulled her head back to see Lena’s face.

“I’m inside you.” She whispered to Lena, like it was a secret.

“I know you are, darling. I… oh.” Kara had started gently pulling back and thrusting in, and it felt so good that Lena couldn’t say anything else. It wasn’t long before Kara started talking to her under her breath about all the ways she wanted to do exactly what they were doing but in different positions, and Lena came as Kara’s throbbing cock rubbed across her clitoris and deep inside her. Then Kara came, too. “Oh Rao. This is amazing, being inside you. I’m so glad there is more than one of these.”

“I suspect I’m going to be bulk manufacturing them.” Lena said, as Kara carried her into the bedroom, still deep inside her.

 

#

 

Lena taped up a package and addressed it to Lois and Clark’s Metropolis apartment, directed to Lois Lane, and dropped it off in the L-Corp mail room.

A week later she came in to work and found her office filled with bouquets of hydrangeas and delphinium, with a card that said nothing except “Thank you! Lois.”

 

#

 

Lena found herself in a dream under a beach umbrella, and sat up in a lounge chair. Kara was in the chair next to her, watching the waves lap to shore. There were three children and the white dog running in the water, squealing and playing and making noise. Kara was as beautiful as ever, especially with the look of wonder and content on her face as she watched the children playing. Lena felt a surge of happiness. But as she ran her eyes over Kara’s lithe, muscular body, she noted a jagged, enormous scar peeking out from her bathing suit and stretching across her back. 

A shout from one of the children caught Lena’s attention and she turned to check on them. A stone one of them had thrown was skipping happily across the water in an impossible number of bounces, and then another stone was thrown and it too skipped away, deep out into the slow flowing waves.

“You know we could get Eliza to come down here and watch them, so we can have time alone in the room.” Kara said to her in the lazy, suggestive tone that meant she was aroused. Lena felt her body answer with the familiar warmth that Kara always invoked in her.

“We could. You should text her.”

Lena woke up from the dream to Kara curled up next to her on the bed, still in her Supergirl suit. She had apparently left for an emergency in the middle of the night and returned to drop into bed without undressing after taking off her boots. Lena watched Kara sleeping, her forehead wrinkled in stress lines. Kara had obviously carried whatever happened to bed with her and was still thinking or dreaming about it in her sleep. Lena caressed her face and Kara’s expression softened, and she smiled.

“It’s alright, sweetie. Everything will be okay.” Lena said. She knew it would be. Kara stirred then, and opened her eyes watching Lena with sleepy affection.

“Hey.” Kara said. “I had a call.”

“I see.” Lena said. She looked at the moonlight slanting across the bed, and realized this was like the first dream she had of Kara… “Come over here.” Lena said, and Kara moved closer so that she was nearly on top of Lena. Lena slid her hand down Kara’s thigh, close to her penis.

“Oh, hi.” Kara said.

“Hi. Are you awake?” Lena asked, knowing she was actually asking something else.

“I am now. I guess you want something.” Kara said. Her penis responded to Lena’s touch. Kara was very much awake.

“I do. I want your cock. If that’s okay…” Lena nudge Kara until she was on top of her and Lena could wrap her legs around Kara, who moved aside the skirt and underwear of her suit until her penis was exposed against Lena’s stomach.

“I need to get a condom, Lena.” Kara said, kissing her and starting foreplay.

“Don’t worry about it. We don’t need it.” Lena said. 

Kara looked at her closely. “Are you sure?” 

“Yes, I’m sure.” Lena said.

Kara started out holding herself above Lena when she entered her, but to get closer and deeper she lay heavily on Lena as she thrust hard into her, filling her full. Kara’s sweaty, rich scent filled Lena nostrils… Lena’s arms were around her thick-muscled shoulders that were flexed and tense; the straining was due to Kara holding back; trying not use too much force.

“Harder.” Lena told Kara, wrapping her legs higher around the torso moving over her, and the change in angle let the thick phallus penetrating her push against her cervix, dragging back across her g-spot as she pulled back for another thrust. Kara groaned in her ear, and her hot breath moving on Lena’s neck came in shorter huffs, matching her own. Kara’s hands at her waist gripped her harder and the speed and force of Kara’s thrusts into her increased. Lena felt the crest of her arousal rise up and finally break into a blinding orgasm, just as Kara’s cock thrust hard and stopped deep inside her, the base pulsing over and over against her clitoris. 

The pulsing, and the warm, wet, sticky feeling that flooded Lena of Kara’s ejaculate was evident to her. Kara looked up at her.

“Are you okay?” Kara asked.

“Yes. Don’t move.” Lena said.

Kara kissed her softly, and one of her hands found Lena’s breast where she traced her nipple. “Oh, I’m not done yet.” Kara said.

 

#

 

It was late afternoon at L-Corp, and Lena was relaxing at her desk. Her teams had wrapped up several research projects and things were going well. Stock prices were up. Despite Lena’s protests about not working on space travel, several companies had sought her out as a consultant on their projects, and she had received huge fees for straightening out some of their engineering problems.

When she heard boots landing on her balcony, Lena assumed for a moment that it was Kara until she remembered Kara was with Winn, infiltrating an underground pro-alien organization as part of her assignment for Snapper Carr. 

Lena hopped up and went to the balcony door to find Superman there. She let him in.

“Superman. This is an unexpected surprise.” Lena had talked frequently to Lois, but she and Clark hadn’t really connected much since he had helped her go through her factories.

“Sorry to drop in unannounced. I happened to be in town visiting Cat Grant, and I had an idea you could help me with something.”

“I’d be happy to.” Lena said.

“I have this. It was in my pod, when I landed, and Jonathan and Martha kept it for me, but I’ve never quite known what to do with it.”

Superman handed her a silver cylinder. On the outside was a holographic picture of a white dog, and Kryptonian lettering.

“It says Krypto.” Superman said. “Kara had told me about a dream you had, about a white dog that could fly. And I don’t know if she just didn’t remember that my parents had a dog? She told me about him several times; she used to play with him when she visited. I never told her about this, because… I don’t know. She was always so sad thinking about our planet, and I hate to invoke that. Besides, I don’t know what this is, exactly… I think maybe this is his genetic material? Maybe he died around the time I was born. Kelex could work on it, but I thought maybe you could figure it out. Because if you and Kara are having a kid, maybe they’ll need a dog.”

Lena was overwhelmed by the request and what it meant; that Superman accepted her. She burst into tears, and hugged him.

“Are you okay?” He asked her.

“I am. I might be a little hormonal.” Lena said. “Are you sure you and Lois don’t need a dog?”

“I think we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. But since you two are working on it already…”

“I didn’t realize Kara told you.” Lena said.

“Well, she told Lois, but same thing.” Clark said.

“I will see what I can do.” Lena said.

 

#

 

“Oh, Wow, Lena. The house smells fantastic.” Kara said.

Lena had been baking cookies and pies all day, and an enormous pan of lasagna was in the oven, along with potstickers and a few other treats Kara liked. She had taken off Saturday to be at home, though Kara had been out on her undercover story with Winn again. She wondered about the ethical considerations of him investigating for the DEO at the same time that Kara was looking into the pro-alien organization for CatCo, but she assumed Cat Grant was behind the scheme.

“It’s not all for you, sweetie. Some of these cookies are for your mom and Alex. So don’t be picking at things.” Lena said as Kara came into the kitchen to investigate. Kara’s golden hair was pulled back in braids, and she was dressed as Kara Danvers, girl reporter, but Lena knew what power lurked under that shiny exterior.

“Okay. What can I eat?” Kara asked.

“You can wait fifteen minutes until I take the lasagna out of the oven.” Lena said.

“That’s a long time.” Kara said, sweeping Lena up in a kiss and embrace that lifted her off the floor. There was the power that lay hidden. “What should we do while we wait?”

“I don’t have time for fooling around, Kara. I have to watch the oven.” Lena said, squirming out of her arms. “You don’t want dinner to burn, do you?”

“I’d eat it anyway. And your apron does say ‘Kiss The Cook’ on it.” Kara pointed out.

“You gave me this apron, ridiculous girl.” Lena said.

“Well, yeah, because I wanted to kiss the cook.” Kara said.

“I thought you were on the change in cycle, Kara.” Lena said. The transition where her penis emerged was one of the few times that Kara actually felt pain, and she avoided fooling around.

“I am, but maybe if you pay attention to it, it will come out faster? I just… we barely got started trying to try, you know, before we had to wait.” Kara said. “I mean, I enjoy all the sex on my girl cycle, but…”

“You are surprisingly impatient sometimes, Kara Zor-El. I still have to watch the oven.” But Lena undid Kara’s pants and reached inside to touch her as Kara kissed her. “I love it when it’s tiny. It’s so cute.” Lena teased.

“Uh, yeah, I know you think that.” Kara said, breathless as Lena stroked the emerging head. “Can you just… oh, okay, that feels better.”

Lena kept working on Kara’s issue, but her attention was divided by what was in the oven. “Okay, I’m just going to… hold still.” Lena dropped to her knees and pulled Kara’s pants further away from her. It was cute when just the tip was out and it looked so small. She took the short head of Kara’s penis into her mouth and sucked on it hard, and it emerged further, and grew longer in her mouth.

“Oh, my… oh, Lena, that’s… your mouth is so…” Kara was saying half sentences, which was usually the signal that she was going to ejaculate, so Lena was prepared. As Kara did, her penis emerged completely, and Lena had to adjust to swallow.

“Oh, fuck.” Kara was saying, in what sounded like a mixture of pain and pleasure. The timer went off, and Lena abandoned Kara to check the food, leaving her standing against the kitchen counter with her pants around her knees, and a wobbling penis, half erect.

“I can’t believe you just stopped right there.” Kara grumbled.

“I’ve been working all day on this and I’m not having it ruined because your pee-pee needed attention.” Lena said. “You can wait a couple of minutes.”

“I thought you were going to call it my ‘cock’.” Kara said.

“I will, if you are patient and let me finish what I’m doing. Once I take these out of the oven, they’ll need time to cool. You can do whatever you want with your ‘cock’ then.” Lena said. She took her time removing everything from the oven, satisfied that she had timed it correctly and all the various dishes had finished baking at the same time.

“Are those roasted Brussel sprouts? Yum. I didn’t realize how many things you had in the oven.” Kara said. 

When Lena finished and turned the oven off, she turned around to discover that Kara had stripped completely, and her clothes were folded neatly behind her on the counter. She lounged against the counter-top completely nude, her sculpted body like a Greek statue. Her penis curled upward into the v-shape of her abdominal muscles. Lena had to admit, despite her frustration, that Kara was gorgeous. And Lena was, like always, wet for her.

“I can tell you want me.” Kara said.

“Don’t be arrogant, Kara.” Lena said.

“I’m not!” Kara protested. “I’m not trying to be. I just… you know I always want you. I think about you all day.” 

Lois had told Lena to send Kara to the Fortress of Solitude when she got to be too much to handle. The Earth’s yellow sun had a tendency to send Kryptonian sex drive into overdrive, and sometimes spending half a day in a place that was dark part of the year was useful. So far Lena hadn’t cared about it, but now that they were actively trying to have a baby, Kara spent a lot of time thinking about sex. It could be exhausting when she was trying to work. But then there were moments like these when Kara was unaware of how beautiful she was, and Lena was just as bad.

“I think about you most of the day, too.” Lena said. “Why don’t you take me to the bedroom?”

“We have a perfectly good kitchen table right here, Lena.” Kara said, picking her up and moving around the kitchen island. And they did, because Lena had replaced the old one with a new table with steel legs and reinforced top after the last incident. Kara set her on the table and went to work loosening her clothes. There was something that turned Lena on about Kara being totally nude and herself partly clothed when they had sex, and Kara knew it, enough to expose just what she needed to turn Lena on; her top unbuttoned, skirt pushed up and underwear down. Lena tried to take off the apron, but Kara stopped her, and kissed her instead, and put her mouth on Lena’s breasts, which never failed to send heat directly between her legs, where she was already wet enough. Kara’s mouth moved downward, and Lena felt like rolling her eyes. Now Kara was taking her time, when she had Lena all worked up. Kara spent some time teasing Lena with her tongue between her legs, over her clit, between her lips, probing at her entrance without quite being satisfying.

“Enough teasing, Kara. Just…” And Kara moved up to kiss her, Lena’s arousal on her lips, and she lined up the head of her penis.

“Just what?” Kara asked.

“Just put your cock in me.” Lena said.

Kara smiled, and slid it in gently, like she always did at first, so Lena could adjust to it. “You’re always so warm and wet. It’s so perfect.” Kara said, leaning into her against the table, pushing the base of her penis forward. Lena felt the tip bump her cervix while Kara ran her thumb across Lena’s clit. Lena came almost immediately.

“Wow, who’s premature now? I’m barely in you.” Kara said as she felt Lena’s muscle clench around her. She was fully in Lena, but Lena knew what she meant; since they had begun having unprotected sex, Kara had gotten much better at holding back her orgasms to match Lena’s, while she had learned exactly how to drive Lena crazy in short order. 

“I’m not done.” Lena said.

“Neither am I.” Kara said, putting her hands under Lena’s knees to anchor the two of them, and starting the slow rhythm that would eventually build to a furious pace before they came to a mutual climax and Kara spilled her seed inside Lena. Kara leaned over her and kissed her, holding Lena up against her. 

“Do you want to do that again, or should we have dinner?” Lena asked.

“I’m not really hungry.” Kara said. She picked Lena up and carried her to the bedroom.

 

Well over an hour later, Kara and Lena were curled up together on the bed.

“Oh, you know, there’s something I should probably tell you about that pro-alien organization.” Kara said.

“Okay. That’s from out of nowhere.” Lena observed.

“Well, I was going to say as soon as I got home, but I got distracted by the food, and you…” Kara said.

“Um hm. What do you need to tell me?”

“A couple things. They are raising funds to open an alien health clinic, with doctors who will specialize in alien care. That’s what their main goal is, other than advocating for alien rights with all the flyers and stuff around town.” Kara said.

“That’s really excellent. I support that idea. A lot. I hope they do well. I wonder what doctors they’ve recruited.”

“I may have told Eliza about it. She might end up contacting them.”

“Oh, sweetie, that’s a great idea. I think they need to come out from being an underground organization, though. They should get an official status.”

“I agree. I think they may have some help with that, which is the other thing I need to tell you.” Kara said.

“Okay.”

“The person running the organization is Jess. Your Executive Assistant. She’s apparently been recruiting people for this group for quite a long time.”

That did surprise Lena, but when she thought it through, it shouldn’t have. It explained a lot about how the group knew where to find where Supergirl had been hidden.

“Wow. I just gave her a raise, but… I think maybe I should look into bumping her salary up again.” Lena said.

“I’ll bet the clinic could use some funding, too.” Kara said.

“Of course. I already mentally made those plans.” Lena said.

“I thought you probably did.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter. And I think I may take prompts for other scenes from this universe, because although I think I've finished the main part of this story, I'm going to miss it.


	26. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena finds out who her mother was, and she and Kara find their way.

Jess had started hunting for Lena’s biological mother in L-Corp files when Lena returned from space with Star Sapphire, but any employment files from before Lena’s birth would be on paper. As far as Jess could tell, paper files were long disposed of. She had reported back to Lena, disappointed that she couldn’t give her more information, but Lena took the news with equanimity. She had suspected that even if files about her mother existed at L-Corp, Lillian Luthor would have purged them long ago.

When Agent Danvers contacted her about the shabby office building where Supergirl had been held captive by Cadmus and Maxwell Lord, Lena didn’t connect any dots. “Wyvern Industries” was a shell company held by other shell companies, as far as she understood. But it had once been a real business, according to ancient paper records that were still in the building, and had been absorbed by L-Corp decades ago.

“You might be interested in some of the experimentation they were doing on quantum entanglement before they were bought out by L-Corp. Winn was poking around in their files and says this stuff is very much like your portal. He says it’s rudimentary compared to your work, but you might geek out over it.” Alex said.

So Lena found herself back at the shabby building in a fading part of town, looking through paper files in an office with decor from the late 1980s. 

The lead scientist on Wyvern’s quantum entanglement project was a woman named Lutessa Mercer, and Lena was impressed that she was leading a team of men in that decade. She located human resources personnel files to look for her name, curious about where she had ended up. When she flipped open the file for ‘L. Mercer’ she felt like her heart had skipped a beat. The security photo was familiar - this was her mother. She had a name, and a biography. 

Ownership of the building was murky, but since it had been abandoned, Lena was able to buy the real estate from the city and take over the building. She moved the paper files to L-Corp, where she could go through them. Most of them were worthless, but she wanted to preserve anything her mother had been working on.

With her mother’s name, she could find where she had attended college, and collected photos from her college and high school yearbooks. Her mother’s obituary was sobering. She had died of breast cancer. Lutessa Mercer had a sister, but sadly she had also died, just seven years ago. Lena might have had a chance to know her aunt, which made her sad. She had no other living relatives on her maternal side.

Her mother’s work had been rudimentary compared to what Lena had achieved with Rhea, but it was groundbreaking for the time. Reading over her work, understanding her thought processes, and seeing her mother’s handwriting was comforting.

She had given her own portal to the government because of the danger it had presented, but she drew up some rudimentary plans that she thought might interest some of the government panels who had taken over the research. They could potentially use the portal to transport emergency aid; one of Lena’s original goals. She had been afraid of the work she had done on the portal, and in the aftermath of the Daxamite invasion she wanted to be rid of it, but now she felt maybe she could honor her mother by carrying on some of her work.

 

#

 

“Kara. Before you doze off on me, I need to tell you something. Before your mom gets here for brunch.”

Kara had just rolled off of Lena in a post-coital haze of happiness and sleepiness, tucking Lena into her side, and pulling Lena’s knees up over Kara’s hip.

“She won’t be here for hours, and I just put Tess back in her crib. We can sleep.” Kara said.

“I know that. And I hate to tell you this after all the work you just put in, but, you didn’t really give me a chance when you got home…”

That got Kara’s attention, and looked up at Lena.

“What is it?” Kara said.

“I’m already pregnant, actually.”

“Babe! Oh, babe!” Kara hugged Lena in her ‘tight-but-not-too-tight’ grip. “That’s amazing! I guess I didn’t need to do all that, did I?” 

“Well, no, but it was still fun.” Lena said.

“Oh, Rao! This is so awesome. I can’t wait to tell everyone. Oh, Tess is going to hate having a sibling. She already resents sharing Mama with me.”

“Um, actually sweetie… I sort of threw up at sister-in-law breakfast last weekend. Maggie ended up buying me the pregnancy test while Alex was holding my hair.” Lena said, and Kara stroked her hair.

“Oh. Well, that’s fine! I’m glad they were there for you. But that means mom knows, doesn’t she? Alex can’t keep secrets from her to save herself.” Kara said.

“Yes. And Jeremiah, too. They’re both swarming already, so…”

“It’s okay. I’m so sorry I’ve been gone months and left you alone with my intrusive family.” Kara rubbed her nose along Lena’s chin affectionately.

“No, it was important that you go with the LSH. And I love your intrusive family. They’re the family I always wanted. Your mom already confirmed it and gave me a first pre-natal check up, so it’s for certain.”

“How far along are you?” Kara asked.

“I think we conceived the last time you were back, actually.” Lena told her.

“Really? That night we stayed at Wayne Manor? That feels a little dirty, Catwoman.” Kara tweaked Lena’s nipple and Lena slapped her arm lightly. “Two and a half months, then? Okay.”

“You’re calculating how long it will be before I’m too pregnant to want sex and which part of your cycle you’ll be on, aren’t you?” Lena asked.

“No, that’s not what I was thinking.” Kara said. She was clearly lying.

“I’m not anywhere near that point yet, Kara. And if you’re wanting oral sex, I’m fine with it.”

“It’s been a long time, since we were trying to conceive and all, and…”

“It’s okay, sweetie. I like doing it.” Lena said, reaching for Kara’s penis, which was hard again, even after all the sex they had just had.

“Come up her so I can put my mouth on you, Kara.” Kara shifted up in the bed so she was within range of Lena’s mouth. 

“Will you put your fingers inside me, too?” Kara asked.

“That was already my plan, sweetie.” Lena said, wrapping her mouth around Kara’s penis.

 

#

 

Cadmus’s final remaining cell in Metropolis fell after they planned a rather desperate attack on the Daily Planet and were stopped by Superman. The organization had fallen to pieces after Max Lord had deceived them, and prison officials had isolated Lillian Luthor sufficiently to keep her from giving orders and direction. When Jeremiah Danvers turned up in a locked room after their compound was raided, he was jailed briefly while the government sorted out what charges they might file for collusion. But he plea bargained, and cooperated in helping them find more evidence on Lillian, and Lena found herself testifying again as her step-mother was tried and convicted of several additional crimes. 

“I would think you would have the compassion to at least let me see my granddaughter.” Lillian said to Lena as they passed in the courtroom hallway. Lena had tried to keep her child out of the press as much as possible, but she wasn’t surprised that Lillian had heard about her.

“Lutessa Danvers is not your granddaughter.” Lena said. From the look on Lillian’s face, she had not heard the child’s name before. She couldn’t tell whether Lillian’s outrage was over Tess’s first name, or her last name, but either way, it made her very happy.

 

#

 

Tess was still shy around her little brother Barry, especially when Lena was feeding him. She would watch, and touch the wisps of hair on his head, but she didn’t want to hold him. She was almost three, and though she talked in full sentences very early, her motor skills were still those of a toddler. Tess was unusually strong and didn’t seem to get sick, but those were the only sign of Kara’s abilities. She didn’t seem to have super speed or the ability to fly. They weren’t sure if those abilities would manifest later, or just not show up.

“It’s okay, babydoll. You can come over here when I’m feeding your brother.”

“I’m not the baby. He’s the baby.” Tess said, moving closer to look at him.

“That’s true. You’re my little girl. But I still think of you as my baby sometimes, sweetie. But you’re big enough to go to the zoo! Are you excited that Grandma and Auntie Cat are taking you?”

“Yes! I get to see animals.”

“You should go tell Mommy what animals you want to see. She can help you brush your teeth and get dressed.”

“I can get dress. I help Mommy get dress.” Tess went off to find her other mom in the bathroom.

Ten minutes later the doorbell rang, and Lena realized it must be Cat Grant, who was always early. She was the one who wrangled exclusive tickets to the special preview of the new Zoo exhibits, and offered to take Tess and Eliza to see them. Lena suspected there was more to the offer than it appeared. She had a pretty firm suspicion that Cat Grant and Eliza Danvers were secretly dating. Lena hadn’t said anything to Kara or Alex, who would probably both freak out.

Jeremiah Danvers had moved back into the family home in Midvale after he was given probation for working with Cadmus, but Eliza Danvers took over the lease on Kara’s old apartment in National City. She worked officially for the DEO, and unofficially with a small health clinic on the east side of town.

Lena could hear Kara and Tess talking in the bedroom, so she got up with Barry to answer the door.

“Well, that’s one way to get an eye full.” Cat observed, as Lena let her in.

“I’m sure you’ve seen breastfeeding women before, Cat.” Lena said dryly.

“I’ve been one. But still.” Cat joked.

“Yeah, and they’re huge, too.” Kara said, carrying Tess into the hall, who was dressed up as Batgirl.

“This conversation is wildly inappropriate, and I’m not participating.” Lena said. “I see Batgirl is going to the Zoo today.”

“She insisted that’s what she wants to wear.” Kara said. “I never argue with Batgirl.”

“Not after she clocked you with that sonar gun.” Lena said under her breath so Tess couldn’t hear it.

“Hey. That was an accident. Or so Barbara said.” Kara said. “Hello Cat! Is my mom on the way, Lena?”

“She texted me that she’s a few minutes away.” Cat answered, and Lena saw Kara’s eyebrows go up just slightly. Maybe Kara wasn’t as oblivious to her mom’s personal life as Lena thought.

Eliza arrived and they spent a few moments in the hallway catching up before Cat and Eliza bundled Tess off.

“You’re feeling well, Lena?” Eliza asked. She had been present for both of Lena’s births, and had helped when Barry’s became difficult and Lena needed a c-section. 

“I am. I’m getting back up to speed.” Lena said, cradling Barry in her arms as he fussed.

“Good. Let me know if you need anything.” Eliza said.

Lena didn’t miss Cat’s hand on Eliza’s back as they left leading Tess. Lena was fairly sure that Kara saw it too, but she didn’t say anything.

The virus in Lena’s system was almost gone now that Barry arrived. Lena’s dreams had become far fewer after Tess had been born, and she hadn’t had one since Barry arrived. Lena could tell that Kara wanted to ask her questions, but wasn’t sure she could or should ask, so Lena made plans of her own, and today was a good time to have a discussion.

Lena had hidden the jewelry box in the pocket of her robe, and she pulled it out when she and Kara sat down for lunch, with Barry sleeping in the bassinet in the corner.

“What’s this?” Kara said.

“We’ve been living together for years, and we have two children. I think it’s about time you made an honest woman out of me, Kara Danvers.”

Kara opened the box and saw the ring with huge sapphire surrounded by diamonds. Kara looked at her astonished, then started to cry.

“You better be planning to marry me, Kara.” Lena said, leaning forward.

“Yes! Yes, of course. You still love me?” Kara said, wiping her eyes.

Of course she loved her. More than she ever had. Whatever the virus had done, it had merely accelerated a feeling that Lena would have stumbled across anyway, Lena was sure. But without it, and without the dreams as a guide and warning, she might not have had the courage to pursue it.

“I adore you. You are the center of my world, Kara Zor-El. I don’t want to be without you.”

“Good. I mean, I knew I still turn you on, but… not that we have to! I know you’re not quite there yet after the baby.” Kara said.

“I’m not. But yes, I love you. And we should get married.”

“Luthor-Danvers, or Danvers-Luthor?” Kara asked. 

“Danvers. Just plain Danvers. I’m ready to leave the name Luthor behind.” Lena said.

Kara pulled Lena into her lap and held her, and Lena rested her head against Kara’s. Lena knew their lives would continue to have peril; she hadn’t forgotten Kara's scar from her dream. But she hadn’t ever imagined she would feel such a sense of peace as this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have ideas for writing prompts in this supercorp universe, please feel free to comment with them, or to email me at the address on my profile. I'll add them as a "Part 2" for this story.


End file.
